The Open Door
by Primalinstincts
Summary: Four years after the devastating Infection rocked NYC and a Nuclear warhead exploded off shore, NYC is recovering. 'Zeus' has been classified as deceased but is he really gone? This follows the aftermath of the PS3 thriller and Alex Mercers journey.
1. Prologue

**Hello everyone! Long time no see. This is my first story that I'll try and get update on a regular basis. No promises! ^_^;  
I fell in love the Prototype story, being a budding geneticist myself and so from the start I knew I wanted to right a story including it. Being in a college level Biology course helped me to find some loop holes in the story line itself and I actually have legit, biological reasoning for how my plot will progress. **

**I hope you all enjoy this story and please feel free to comment anytime!  


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New York had been bad, the single worst disaster in United States history since 9-11. Not only was the city still under quarantine, still riddled with the infection but all the finical markets and everything New York was so famous for had been shut down for three years now. The economy was in the pits and the only thing that didn't seem to be too affected by anything was GENTEK. Shockingly, since they had been the real cause for everything after all.

Blackwatch however had changed for the better, becoming a more focused on helping the city recover than hunting down Zeus.

Alex Mercer had just vanished and left the eye of interest after the bomb. Some believed that he had finally died. However those who had escaped what Blackwatch called the 'final assault' knew he had remained on the deck of the USS Ronald Reagan to fight the supreme hunter. What more, the bombs had been taken away and off shore by someone and it sure hadn't been anyone from the government. That had left only one person.

Mercer.

With less eyes focused on Zeus they were actually able to do the job they were meant to, help the city. Though this time it was to recover from two disasters.

While the city had been mostly spared by the blast, radiation was still an issue and the city had been damaged somewhat.

Luckily a new and very advanced scanning process took over and healthy citizens were able to move out of the city so Blackwatch and the Marines could do their jobs without the worry of civilian casualties.

Within three years, most of the city had been cleaned on the infection. The only places that were still unstable or contaminated being cornered off and attacked. It was amazing to see that most of the city was coming back, people working to rebuild what the bomb had destroyed. Radiation was always a problem though and something that many thought would be the cut throat to the city.

But people continued to work on, though the estimates to when the place would be back and running again had been measured in decades. The deep tunnels and once subways where such good breeding ground for the infection that it was hard to clean out. However by doing a little at a time...progress what being made.

The events had shocked the world, altered it...though GENTEK remained blame free through it all. Not once were they linked to the infection, to anything since...they had, had so many inside people. Greene and Mariah (like Mercer) however remained hushed, very top secret to the point where maybe only two or so people knew of them.

The baby, still in an unknown location had received a heavy guard. Some who remembered the secrets of Zeus worried that...he knew. That he would come and discover on his own once more like he had through the entire Manhattan disaster.

However as the years past many fell back into a sense of ease, most of the country did actually. Feeling as though the disaster was over and the country was safe and secure again.

But...that wasn't exactly the case...

Especially since Mercer WASN'T dead...


	2. Manhattan Comes Knocking

**I wrote this chapter awhile ago so you may see my 'style' change a lot. Hopefully I can get the next one up soon enough. I know I have inspiration again to write this.  


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Morgan Alexa Miller. That's what it said on the tag she had worn for the (almost) past four years. It would officially be four years as Gentek in a few weeks but...oddly enough? The twenty three year old held her job with pride. This was mainly because she was working with people, mainly, twice her age an older. Why? For most it took ten to twelve years for get a PhD. She had gotten hers in three. She blamed her smarts on her parents, both of whom where highly educated and intelligent. Her father, Phillip Clive Lewis, had been a doctor while her mother, Alice Jane Lewis, had been a college science professor.

How she had handled the advanced biology that led her to being a Medical Geneticist for GENTEK she still didn't know but somehow the college courses she had taken just...made SENSE to her!

While a lot of people didn't think it had been fair she had gotten so far in so little time, her family had always been proud. With the degree the rising company had snatched her up on a nice starting salary and comfy job. However the country would be hit with a devastating attack shortly after she had been first hired. Nuclear Bombs had exploded off shore from Manhattan that had, already, been suffering from the worst biological attack in history.

Unaware that GENTEK had been the REAL cause of it all, Morgan worked for some time on trying to find ways of 'curing' the infection she had heard about and was granted very little access to. However she was soon was locked out of that sector of the company and sent her back to work on cures for things like Cancer and Diabetes. Morgan didn't mind though she wanted to help people the people in Manhattan...with the plague that, for awhile, seemed like would take over the entire country.

However as time passed and more and more work went into containing the island...things improved. People were scanned, tested and those clean of the infection allowed to leave Manhattan. That being a very happy day for many people who had been fearing the death of loved ones. Still…many...thousands had died and there was still a great mourning in the country.

However that had been months ago and now...news came everyday of more progress, more hope...

Morgan was by no means a pessimist but in argument you couldn't call her an optimist either. She was the middle ground and that standing spread to a lot of other things too. But the constant news had worn on her and then entire situation was just...old.

The city would probably be truly be back when the radiation wore off. Everyone knew that it but the Politian's that used the disaster to make false promises to the voters continued to hope that those stands would help them get reelected.

So….in short? The most devastating thing in the history of the United States was becoming media food and leverage for power hungry politicians. All this had Morgan no longer watching TV or really caring about anything relating to it.

Her coworkers thought about the same as well, that the media had overdone it this time and the incident was no longer a private thing.

However the drama was low and work for Morgan was as nice as ever. While most of her fellow workers were in their forties to fifties a few of the interns where her age, that including Cadence Owen. An energetic, overly excitable women she was a dear friend to Morgan though, often gossiping with her about the pettiest of things but things that seemed soooo important at the time (at least to her).

It was a cold January morning, VERY cold since she was having to walk home from the pet store that day. Considering that it was also Maryland...it was damn cold in January. Morgan had been having an okay day before she realized she had run out of fish tank filters, having run down to a pet store and gotten some. Apart from narrowly missing a patch of ice, things were still well, the women only really worrying about the fact she could be getting frost bite on her noise.

Worrying about sick days she hurried home, only to find that her apartment door was already open...and not only open but gently pushed open. Hurrying in she didn't think much of it for a moment…rather sure she had locked the door but...maybe the wind had pushed it open? Looking around she put the bag down as she started to get off all the winter jackets and scarves, trying to see if anything was disturbed. Nothing was missing...that odd since she had a big tv in the living room...a nice stereo...her iTouch on the counter of the kitchen, her computer...

The monitor caught her eye, the women going over to look. She KNEW that had been off when she left, the screen flashing some now from too many attempted password tries. SOMEONE...someone had been trying to access her files from work! Rushing to get her cell phone she had left charging she called 9-11, telling them someone had broken into her house and she needed assistance. After that she called Cadence…needing some comfort for the prickly feeling going up her spin…like she was being watched...

The police would arrive only after Cadence, that a little shocking though...considering Cadence? It wasn't. She was crying and worried and sure that Morgan was hurt or worse and even though she had TOLD her that she had come home to this...the ecstatic women wouldn't listen. The cops spent more time calming her down that Morgan who told them what had been where when she had come home. She informed them that nothing had been taken but she was worried since nothing had been forced open. They suggested they get her locks changed and maybe a security system if she was worried about her safety that much. After the paper work was filled out they left and Cadence offered to stay the night in with her friend.

"Cadence….you don't have to…I'm fine. Not….worried…" That was a small lie though, the women feeling at times that she was still being watched.

"Nope. You are not talking me out of this Morgan! I want to come and make sure you'll be safe."

"Ha….and you'll be able to stop them if they come back?" Morgan asked, laughing some at the blonde, 5'3, 120 lbs women. She feel over flat surfaces for goodness sakes.

"Yes….yes I will." Her enthusiasm and determination won Morgan over and she allowed her to stay the night. In the morning the dear friend also made sure that the lock smith and security guy who came out 'gave her the best deal'. It was amusing to see the blonde try and be mean, or even try and haggle seeing as she failed at anything that had to do with money.

She would leave the following day with Morgan to go to work, not returning with her though since her locks had been changed and a security system had been installed. The technology and changes made Morgan feel much better, she able to be relax and sleep peacefully.

Two days would pass and nothing more happened, Morgan coming home to a secure house and a sure feeling she was safe. However….on Friday…it would be another story.

Morgan was let out early, a rare thing for anyone in the company really. It was mainly because her research field was in the middle of changing over to something new, her work slowing as she handed it over to someone else and she was given things to work on at home. She was already headed to do just that, listening to some music as she looked over a few forms. It was a little warmer today, there at least not a breeze like there had been some days that had made it even more cold. Going to the door she found it locked, not thinking anything was wrong at first. However as she would go in….she would see there had defiantly been someone there. Papers were ALL over the floors, a picture frame knocked over and shattered…

Tensing up Morgan looked around, cautious as she looked around. There was a chance this time that the intruder could still be there…a very good chance.

She would put her papers down on a single clean table, continuing to look around as she regretted not buying new pepper spray that Cadence had suggested. She didn't know anyway of defending herself…apart from the always 'if it's a guy nail them in the groin' technique. She did recall stashing some very old pepper spray somewhere but….she couldn't remember where… She continued to look around, again shocked that her TV and computer were still there.

The computer was still off as was the TV but…still….why would someone break in…make a mess….and not take anything? Not any sort of thief…or at least normal ones. She continued to look around, expecting the papers everywhere to be bank papers but they weren't, again they were all things from work.

"What the hell…?" She muttered, sounding rather pissed now. Had someone been coming in and making a big mess just to piss her off? She started to pick up some of the papers, seeing that they were things about her employment…projects and things that she had been working on. These were private, confidential and she could get in REAL major trouble if someone had been snooping…

"Shit..." She hissed, knowing she should have been locking the file cabinets. She hurried, starting to collect things and put them away. She knew she would have to get the police here again, though she was worried they would want to look at the things misplaced. She was a loyal employee to say the least, but she would never do anything for the company that she didn't think would, in turn, help out humanity. As she worked she started to get that unsettling feeling again, feeling more and more like...she wasn't alone in the house. A cold chunk of ice seemed to settle in her gut, heart accelerating. She was feeling sick, body starting to shake as she moved to check on one last thing…the fish in the other room. They were her favorite pets after all and they were Veiltail goldfish. They were rather elegant for goldfish, having long tails and flowing fins... She rushed to check on them, freezing when she saw that….there was someone leaning over them.

The jacket was leather with a red design over the shoulders, a hoodie under that pulled up so the persons head was shrouded. They wore jeans that seemed a bit tattered and dirtied and their shoes were about the same. Morgan tensed, watching as they held their hand over the top of the tank and the fish swam up. They thought they were going to get food, that was why they came up….and he was teasing them.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" She hissed, feeling brave before...the man turned and she lost all feeling in her body. His eyes didn't seem human, cold and...haunted. He didn't reply to her question, just turning towards her more as Morgan shrank back. Her mind whizzed, trying to remember where that can of pepper spray was she had hidden away. As she thought she didn't notice the man was continuing towards her that making her back into a desk that was against the wall. She jumped, looking back at it them him...

"Soo...you're Morgan..." His voice was just at bitter as his eyes. The panic in her heart only picked up more, her eyes unable to look away from his...no matter how alien they were.

"How did you get in here? Wh-what do you want!" She demanded, furious at herself now for letting her voice shake like it was. There so no hiding how scared she was now, her entire body was shaking. The man wasn't just scary looking but he was tall, very built and could probably have snapped her neck in half a second.

"That's not really important right now..." He muttered, unaware that her hand was digging around in one of the desk drawers, searching for something...anything for her to use in defense in case this guy came after her. "What is important though...is that you listen and you listen well…because you're only going to get one chance to answer this..."

It was like listening to a demented game show host, the man speaking as though she would get one finally question and win some prize...she just hoped that prize would be keeping her life.

Morgan didn't like to label or profile people, it was so ignorant and harsh but...this man...he was terrifying. There was no way of getting around that and she was honestly convinced she was about to die.

"Wh-what do you want...?" She asked again, feeling a spark of hope as she felt her fingers brush something shaped like an inhaler….it was the old pepper spray! Before the man could reply she attacked, ripping her hand out of the drawer with the spray as she showered his face in the material. He bellowed in pain, stumbling back some as Morgan took off towards the living room.

She figured she had one shot to get her phone and make it out the door before she was dead. Maybe she could scream for help and get some more eyes on this guy...However she was shocked when she found herself running in place. It was like she had fallen into a cartoon, the women horrified as to why she wasn't moving. Then she felt it..saw...a writhing mass of…of something was wrapped around her, holding her from moving ahead. She clawed at it only to trace it back to the man...it was his ARM! His arm had actually elongated into some...something and it was holding her back. She screamed. It was the only thing she could think of to do. She was terrified, not sure who...what this thing was!

It didn't last long though, he pulled her back and like one of the bungee rides at a carnival she flew back. Only she didn't smash into some inflatable, bounce house; she hit the wall and her world when black.

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**Cookies to whomever knows what attack/power Alex just used on Morgan! : D**


	3. New Job Description

**I just want to say thank you to all of my watchers and readers. You all have really inspired me to write and I couldn't be happier. Now I just hope that you enjoy this chapter and how I wish for this story to progress. 3  
~Aurora**

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Everything hurt…that was the only thing that Morgan could consciously think. She was somewhere comfy though so that made it better. That also made the panic spike.

'_Oh god…he raped me! I'm probably in my bed right now…or GOD he's GOING to!'_ She didn't want to open her eyes now, the terror too strong. Plus, if he thought she was dead, maybe he'd just take what he wanted and left.

"I know you're awake." The voice still make her veins turn to ice. He was close by the sound of it. Hesitantly she opened her eyes, groaning some at the light. It was dark out but he had a lamp on, the brightest one by her desk. Why that one? There were a dozen lamps and he had to pick that one!

"Wh-wha…..who?" She tried to move her hands to rub her face but something held them. She blinked and looked up, seeing that they were hand cuffed together. From the cuffs a chain led down, somewhere under the couch and probably to the legs. _'Bastard' _She thought unhappily, not appreciating this. Like she could hurt him and where did he get hand cuffs to begin with!

"Look…you have a choice…" He began slowly and taking her attention from the cuffs. He stood but his form was a little blurry and fuzzy to her still. "You're the top geneticist at Gentek."

Morgan snorted and interrupted.

"Not really… Peters is-"

"Top in your field…in what I need." He continued, cutting her off like she had him. Morgan didn't argue then, not sure what he was saying. "You've got to fix this….cure it." He reasoned looking at his hands.

"I'm not sure what you're talk-" Even through her bad vision she could see what was happening.

His hands...his hands were mutating, changing…morphing into something else. Her mind thought of Edward Scissorhands once it was all done, his hands huge and each finger a long, sickening blade. Something was seriously wrong with this guy.

"Uh…I…um…I don't think I can h-help you.." Morgan stuttered, her mind swirling with idea's. All theories but…

"Well then….I guess I'll have to go with option two..." He muttered. The claw hands vanished as fast as they came and one entire arm turned into a long blade. He walked over, swift and steady and placed the blade to her throat.

"W-WAIT!" Morgan gasped, tears leaking from the corner of her eyes. If it was a choice between trying to figure out what this CRAZY guy wanted and death….she'd choose the crazy.

"You'll do it…?" He asked, the blade starting to cut into her skin.

"Y-yes….I'll try…I'll try and cure you…" She said, trying to lean her head away from the blade.

"Good." She screamed, watching as he pulled it back and threw it forward. She was sure he was taking her head off but…she felt her chains to her handcuffs loosen some and she realized he was freeing her. He reached down then, his hands normal at least as he yanked her up in a sitting position. She gave a weak eep before watching as he put a key into the cuffs and unlocked them.

Once they were off he moved away, putting them on the table by her tv. The first thing she did then was rub her wrists and then her eyes. She felt like her head was split in half. She groaned, sitting up and running her hands through her hair.

"What time is it?"

"A little past 11." She jumped, not expecting him to reply.

"Shit….I was out…" She winced and stood then moved to head to the kitchen. The man turned, seeming to tense.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting some Advil. This headache's a bitch." She groaned only to jump as he zipped around in front of her.

"We don't have the time."

"Okay…buddy look…" She had no idea where the budding courage was coming from but she had a feeling it was because she knew he wanted something from her…her help. "If we're going to be doing this I need to lay down some rules.." The man smirked, something about it seeming like he was amused.

"First of all…you broke into MY. HOUSE. Which means YOU….are a um….uninvited guest. Which means I can do whatever the hell I want, seeing as it is MY. HOUSE." She liked emphasizing the words. "Number two. If I don't take something I'm not going to get anything done. Headache equals no work. If you force me to work then you'll get shitty work." She felt like she was lecturing a child. "Got it?"

He just sneered and moved aside, the man looking around as she passed.

In the kitchen Morgan grabbed something to drink and the pills, downing them before looking for something to eat. She did glance at the man again and found it rather…well funny how awkward he seemed to be.

"You can sit you know.." she sighed, figuring that he was going to be like this all night. He didn't accept the offer but she let it go, moving back to her computer. She booted it up before going back to the kitchen to find something to eat. It'd have to be something fast so she grabbed some dip from the freezer and tossed the plastic tray in the microwave. She waited, tapping her foot as she tried to start thinking through her headache. How could this be possible…this man…he was like something out of a sick SyFy movie. The microwave beeped then and she took out the tray, stirred the dip some then put it back in.

"Hurry it up." The man snapped, Morgan glaring at him through a wall. She silently mouthed back what he had said, not all enjoying his attitude. Once the dip was done she grabbed some chips she slipped back over to the computer. The small meal was put on a pull up table by the desk and her drink by the keyboard. Once the computer was up and running she sighed and turned to him hesitantly.

"Soo…..do you have any idea what's…erm…happening?" She made a funny little gesture to him and he came over.

"It's a virus."

"Oookkaayy…" She had never heard of something like this before…except for in Syfy movies of course. She had to fight a smirk as she thought about those cheesy yet entertaining movies.

"A Gentek virus." His voice snapped her right out of her thoughts and she looked at him again.

"Gentek doesn't make virus's…we cure them." She reasoned. That seemed to make another sneer appear on his face.

"You're just like them…" Morgan raised an eye and just shook her head before watching him move away. She turned back to the computer and brought up a blank word page to start writing.

"Well….what are your symptoms?" She asked, figuring that if he was right and it was a virus he would have some.

"I don't have any."

Again she turned and gave him a look.

"What the hell kind of virus do you have?" She demanded before she shrunk down in her chair some. He was glaring…those icy eyes locked on her as tendrils of what she assumed was this 'virus' snapped and whipped around him. He was ppiisseedd….

"That. That is your job to figure out." He growled, Morgan hesitantly scooping some of the dip on a chip and nibbling it.

"Sssoorrryyy." She dragged out lowly before she sat up and started to type. She just listed things to get her mind flowing and theories brewing. The sound of keys being pressed in an almost musical fashion filled the air for some time before there was a snort from the man.

Morgan jumped and pulled her hands back as she looked up. He was hovering above her and his eyes were on the screen.

"Subject appears to suffer from severe masochism and shows signs of paranoia?" He asked, his voice sounding beyond amused again. "Why is that under symptoms?" He added, looking at her. Seeing that he didn't seem pissed again she smirked a little and highlighted what she wrote.

"Oh…you're right. These should be under Character Traits." She smirked as she moved the text under that sections of the form she had created. There were categories for name, age and various other things like that. Of course those two were empty though she had made a guess.

"I'm not 40." He growled, the slight annoyance in his voice lost to Morgan who just grinned.

"Oh…well I just making educated guesses so…" She reasoned before cringing. He had grabbed her chair and pushed her away. It was a rolly chair so not only did Morgan slide away rather swiftly but she spun. She stopped herself before she went too far though, peeking over to see the man typing away.

"Hey! Don't mess that up!" She growled as she started to scoot back over.

"I'm not….I'm fixing it." He snapped again before moving back. Morgan would come over to look then, seeing that some of the blanks had been filled in. She blinked, tempted to thank him but she decided not to give him the pleasure.

"So um….how long have you been like this?" She asked, moving to make a new page in order to take notes. The man paused then as he thought, Morgan noticing he had been heading over to a wall with most of her personal pictures on it.

"I think…." He looked around and paused when he saw a calendar. "Four…years…." He seemed a little shocked himself and Morgan raised an eye. HOW could you loose track of how long you'd been able to shape shift your body into hideous spikes!

"You think? Or you know?" She pressed as she ate a few more chips.

"A little over four years." He nodded then, sounding more sure as he moved back to look at the calendar. He groaned, hands going to his head as he seemed to be hit by some sort of headache or attack. He crumpled some, one hand remaining on his head while the other rested against the wall in order to support himself.

Morgan watched and added onto to the symptoms list. She minimized the word document then pulled up the internet. After some typing she pulled up Web MD and soon the symptom checker. She started clicking through symptoms, wondering if this would help put her in the right direction. However, just like before the man snuck back over and soon made his presence know.

"Agitation, anxiety, compulsive behavior, emotional detachment and impaired social skills!" He roared, Morgan looked up then.

"What? If I'm missing anything please let me know." She had only just started and there were still a good number on the list that she needed to go through.

"This isn't going to help me you bitch!" He roared, Morgan diving out of her chair and to the side then as he reeled back. She screamed as she heard the chair crunch, her arms over her head and her body curled in the fetal position. Wheels rolled away from the small crater in the room where the chair had been, pieces of plastic flying like shrapnel before clattering to the floor. Morgan stayed in place, shaking slightly and taking in shallow breaths. The silence would fill the room then but Morgan had a slight ringing in her ears from the attack. She could hear the man taking in deep breathes, each one making him sound like a seething bull. She didn't dare move, not until she knew for sure that she would be able to walk away from this with both her legs. The minutes ticked by and once the man moved away from her computer she uncurled herself and looked at him. She watched him head into the shadows, his shoulders seeming to shake as he moved to sit in a chair at her dining room table and fume. She would look away then, sighing as she looked to where he chair had been. Great…just great…that had been her favorite rolly chair…

She would move into the kitchen then to get a broom and dust pan then returned as she started sweeping up the mess. It took awhile but soon the disaster was cleaned up and she pulled a normal chair from a hallway to sit at. Okay…time to really focus….

After the mans outburst that night he seemed to be in the sour mood. He kept her up until 4 am that first morning making her work and draw up theories before she was finally headed to bed. She slept in til 7 then rose to get ready for work. However it was there that things took an….interesting turn.

She had locked the door to her bathroom, sighing some as she moved to get in the shower. She turned the knob before just about jumping out of her skin The door to the bathroom would suddenly shake violently before a booming voice followed.

"What the hell are you doing up?" He snarled as Morgan rushed to grab a robe to cover herself with. That door was sure to fall off the hinges if he kept that up.

"I'm taking a shower! What do you think I'm doing!" She snapped back, grumpy since she had only gotten 3 hours of sleep.

"Why?" He asked, seeming to grow more agitated. "Who said you were leaving this house?" She could hear the sneer in his voice, that same sneer that had her blood run cold.

"I…I have to go to work….they're going to wonder where I am.." Morgan reasoned.

"Call in sick."

"I only get 7 sick days a year though!" She whined, her head resting against a wall.

"That's not my problem. Call in sick for the week."

"THE WEEK!"

"You have the flu." He reasoned, that voice threatening…

She couldn't argue with him though, it was either his way or the grave at this point and she rather liked the view she had above ground.

"Damn this…" She growled, moving to unlock the door. Might as well go back to bed at this rate right? She shook the door some, making sure he was off it before she opened it up and glared. Her look paled in comparison to his but she tired.

"Fine...I'll call in…now get out of my room. I'm going back to bed." She reasoned as she moved to lay down and get on her cell.

"You're already up…you might as well get back to work..."

"You have GOT to be kidding me!" She roared, snapping her head around to look at him. "Look dude…I only got 3 hours of sleep last night. So unless you want me to screw up EVERYTHING I've gotten done then keep pushing." She hissed, her phone in her hand. The man just smirked, turning his back then and heading out of the room. GOD he was infuriating! Half the time he either smirked or almost took her head off. He had to have some sort of mental thing going on with the freaky Syfy virus.

With him gone Morgan would call in, making herself sound like hell (which wasn't too hard with the lack of sleep making her voice sound like sand). No one questioned her and the women on the phone wished her well. Once that was done Morgan turned over and tried to go back to sleep. Her dreams turned into cruel nightmares. Her plans of spending a week in the Bahama's ruined. Images of the beaches faded away, becoming infected by tendrils while meteors made of rolly chairs left craters in the sand...


	4. Prisoner in my Own Home

The week of confinement would turn into a week of hell for Morgan. The man was moody, defensive and the smallest things set him off. As the days passed he managed to break one of her dining room chairs and put a hole in the wall. However as much damage as he had caused she was grateful that it was the house taking the hits and not her own body. As soon as news spread about Morgan getting the Flu her phone began to ring off the hook. Cadence was worrying herself to death over her friend, telling her that if she needed anything to just give her a call.

"Cadence I'll survive….promise! I'm stocked up here and I've been ordering in. I'll live." She assured as she leaned back against the couch. She had a few minutes to herself at the moment seeing as her lovely uninvited guest had slipped away for a moment.

"Morgan those foods are not good for you! They are soaked in grease and deep fried." Cadence snorted as Morgan laughed.

"Are you telling me to watch my figure?" She gasped then as Cadence giggled.

"Nnnooo." She laughed. All the noise drew Mr. Grumpy back in, his shadow looming in the door way.

"Uggg…Cadence I better go…I think it's time for more medicine." Morgan sighed as she sat up more. He never let her have much time to relax…it was all work and then sleep.

"Awww…well…okay. I'm calling tomorrow though…to make sure you're alive and all." She reasoned.

"Alright…bye Cadence."

"Bye…" Morgan hung up the phone then, sighing as she looked over and glared. "You know…you're a terrible buzz kill." She grumbled as she moved back to her computer. He just ignored her, watching from the doorway with crossed arms. "And I can't fix all your problems from this computer I hope you know...I can work on theories then you'll have to go to someone else…" Again she was met with silence which was becoming more obnoxious than spooky at this point. "So what? Are you not going to talk to me today?" She demanded, turning to look at him. He shifted before starting to trail though the living room, eyes looking over things while his hands went into his pockets. Morgan rolled her eyes, turning again to start working on her computer and run some more scenarios.

"You know…I don't even know your name." She pointed out then, sitting back then before looking at him. He paused, eyes on the tv before looking at her.

"What?"

"Where you EVEN listening!" Morgan groaned.

"Not precisely, no…" He admitted with a shrug.

"I was pointing out the fact that I don't even know your name…I've been calling you 'guy' and 'dude' all week." She sighed, resisting the urge to grab her keyboard and hit him with it. The man hesitated, seeming to think for a moment before sighing.

"Alex.." Morgan had turned back to the computer but the name made her turn slowly. Was…he…?

"Your name is Alex…?" She asked, watching as he paused before giving a stiff nod. She had to admit she was a bit shocked that he had given in. He'd fought with her on everything the last few days so this felt like a big victory for her. "Well…Alex…" She sighed as she turned and held out a hand. She wanted to try and civil, truthfully she did. "I'm Morgan." She introduced, not sure she could say it was nice to meet him. She hadn't decided yet…. Alex would stare at her hand then, not sure if he wanted to shake it or not. Morgan just rolled her eyes an sighed at him heavily. "Really? I'm not going to eat you." She smirked. He had to fight a smirk as well, something about that oddly funny for him apparently. He finally took her hand then, giving it a firm shake before letting it go. Once the shake was done she gave a small smile before turning back to her computer. "Was that so hard?" She asked then, not able to see his smirk.

"Torturous." He sneered back, his tone letting her know he was getting enjoyment out of pissing her off at this point. Morgan just ignored him then, continuing to type on the computer. She focused for some time before she realized something. He had been there with her for almost a week now and not once had she seen him eat.

"Aren't you hungry?" She asked, turning then to look at him. He had wandered away again and had moved to sit on the couch. He looked over at her question but didn't answer.

"Umm…hello. Hungry? I have food…you can eat something." She reasoned, crossing her arms as she watched him.

"I'm fine." He shot back, giving her a look.

"How can you be fine! It's been 5 days and I haven't seen you touch a thing." Maybe this was another symptom…

"I don't….exactly eat." He grumbled then as Morgan continued to watch him.

"How can you not eat?" He gave a shrug and met her eyes. "Have you tried to eat?" She asked then, starting to get up. She wanted to try…

"No. I have no desire." He explained as he watched her. His answer made up her decision and soon Morgan was flipping through an order out menu. She kept a few stashed in her kitchen drawer and at the moment she was thinking burgers.

"I'm ordering you something." She reasoned then, hearing him rise to walk over to the counter.

"It's pointless." He reasoned, giving her a look.

"I don't care…I want you to try."

"Why?"

"BECAUSE!" She groaned, throwing a fist down on the counter before looking at him. "It's going to help me work out some other theories." She added, wondering if this excuse would pass. He seemed to buy it for once and left with a sigh to go and sit on the couch once again. She would order from a local burger place and got enough for him and herself. Once that was done she came back out in the living room but didn't sit. She watched him, curious about how fast he flicked through the news stations but slowed when any other type of program was on.

"When was the last time you had a shower?" She asked suddenly as she watched him. He looked up and made a face, not sure how to take that question.

"Excuse me?"

"I said, when was the last time-"

"I heard you…..why are you asking?" He asked.

"Well if you don't remember the last time you ate I had to wonder…these are the basics of human life here and you don't seem to understand them." She pointed out. At the word 'human' he seemed to tense up but he didn't speak.

"You can have one you know…just go up and get under the hot water. It may improve your attitude." She snorted as his eyes narrowed. He didn't move though and so she sighed.

"Come'on Alex…leave me alone for 5 minutes and go relax." She reasoned, noticing that saying his name seemed to do something to him. The ice from his eyes left for just a moment before he sighed and started to get up.

"If it will get you to shut up." He growled while Morgan smiled.

"Do you remember where the bathroom is?" She asked then only to receive another nasty glare.

"Yes." He replied coldly. Morgan held up her hands then and moved away from him. If he was going to be moody she was going to back off. The man would head away and once he was gone Morgan smirked and moved to sit on the couch.

"Sucker…" She snickered, most definitely not going to spend the time he was gone on the computer. After all there could only be so many minutes she would have free to relax! Turning back to the tv she kept it low as she flipped to the news. Once the local news was over information on New York started up, just like normal. Interviews with army generals and impressive looking politicians flooded the screen and soon Morgan just ignored it all. Hearing the water come on upstairs another idea came to mind and she smirked. Rising she headed up the stairs as softly and quietly as she could. He was using her bathroom as she suspected and soon her target was in sight. He had left his clothes in a heap on the floor just inside the bathroom and this she could see through the slightly cracked open door. Slipping close she only dared to put her hand inside and pulled out all the articles she could find. By the looks of the clothes they were due for some washing and maybe some replacement. Shaking her head Morgan would hurry the clothes down to the laundry room where they were swiftly placed in the washer. She checked all his pockets for anything that could be of value and found nothing. Once the washer was going she took a moment to look over the leather jacket. It was still in…shockingly good condition. The design on the back still bright red and the leather itself seemingly flawless. This she hung up before heading back into the living room to relax. If things went the right perhaps he would be awhile and when he did get done their food would be there…

Morgan wasn't sure what happened but the next thing she knew she was jerked awake. She had fallen asleep on the couch and woken on her side, though….what had pulled her from sleep?

"MORGAN!" The raging voice from upstairs answered that fleeting thought and soon she was upright on the couch. Rubbing her head she looked up towards the stairs and yawned.

"What!" She whined, her voice loud but still cloaked with a sleepy tone.

"What the HELL did you DO!" Alex was roaring, the sound of him rushing down the stairs soon filling the house.

"I didn't do a DAMN-" Morgan stopped half way, blinking a bit in shock at what she saw. Alex had come raging down the stairs in nothing but a medium sized white bath towel that was around his waist. He still looked a bit wet, his short brown hair dripping just a little as he glared at her from the stairs. The rest of him was…well…dry but she had to admit she was a bit shocked to see he was as fit as he was. Then again from all the clothes she had thrown in the wash he layered up a lot. She didn't see why he needed to either. The man was built and there was no way around that fact. She rose then and sighed as she came over. A hand of his was holding the railing on the stairs as the rest of his body shook with what she assumed was rage. She tried not to show fear and proceeded to come lean against the railing near him.

"So….you have brown hair huh?" She mused as she looked at him innocently. The railing cracked as his hand closed around it and soon those tendrils began to flicker around him. She took a step back at that and braced herself for what she was sure to come.

"Where. The. Fuck. Are. My. Clothes!" He seethed, the railing starting to splinter and crack more.

"Okay…calm down…I just…stuck them in the wash!" Morgan reasoned, holding her hands up. "I thought I was doing something nice! GESH! Go sit and relax for a second." She reasoned though he didn't seem phased. "Okay….admittedly this wasn't well planned…I realize you have nothing else to wear but…it should be done soon." She reasoned, looking back towards the laundry room. "Just….go back upstairs and relax or something…" She reasoned, shrinking down some as he continued to loom there and glare. Maybe they could get him some new clothes…well…if he ever let her go at least… The minutes would tick by as the silence lasted between them and it only vanished when the doorbell suddenly rang. Morgan actually jumped in shock before looking to the door then back to the seething half naked man on her stairs.

"That's um….what I ordered…" She edged away from him and foolishly turned her back to him. She would head to the door and open it while her hand went to her wallet in her pocket. The boy at the door seemed so oblivious and chip, his naïve grin almost making Morgan laugh.

"Hello there! It'll be 23.40 ma'am!" He said as he held out the bag.

"Thanks…" Morgan laughed weakly as she fished out some bills. She heard something happen back in the house and she wasn't sure what it was, only that it was strange. Luckily the boy outside didn't notice and continued to watch her and smile.

"Here." Morgan offered him 35 cash and moved to take the food. The boy seemed to tense up though and his eyes went behind Morgan.

"I'll take that." A gruff voice that didn't sound like Alex at all replied. An arm came around her and took the bag from the boy but this arm…it was dressed in Army camouflage. Morgan wore a face of total shock as she turned around and saw the man behind her. She had never seen him before in her life…this man…WHO was that!

"Um…thanks…" The boy nodded, looking back to the bills then as he counted.

"You can keep the change." Morgan noted then, feeling the mans other hand take a hold of her shirt and start pulling her back into the house. Her heart picked up some as she was pulled back. For a second she thought about bolting. Maybe she could make a run for it and at least get enough witnesses before Alex cut her in half or something… those thoughts vanished as she watched the door shut and the boys fleeting back vanish. Once she had a moment to drift back to reality she spun around and faced the man. What the HELL was going on! The man was dressed head to toe in complete army gear that she was almost too familiar with.

However before she was given a chance to demand who this guy was, where he came from and what he was doing there his form seemed to….shake. Tendrils flashed all around him like writhing snakes as the flesh seemed to melt away and be replaced. In seconds the army man was gone and once again….Alex was there in front of her. Something finally snapped in her conscious and Morgan felt her knee's turn into jello under her. She collapsed before throwing her back against the door in an attempt to get away from him. This….this was new…and completely unnatural in every way she could think of.

"What…what the hell did you just do…?" She hissed, hands going through her hair as she fought shudders.

"Get up. I want my clothes." He growled, leaning down and yanking her up. Morgan squirmed at his touch and quickly moved away from him. How on earth could this be a virus just…how! He had…he had just BEEN someone else! She hurried away from him and into the laundry room, trying to process what had just gone on. His clothes were finished in the washer but now she had to toss them in the dryer. Thinking a little she did remember she had a few things that could possibly fit him. She would avoid the living room as she headed back out, rushing upstairs and digging around in the bottom drawer of her dresser. She found a normal, guys tee and some jeans that she hoped would fit and put those out. She even managed to find some boxers and left everything on the dresser before heading back out of her room. Carefully she would move back down the stairs and peek into the living room. The bag of food was on the dining room table and Alex was brooding by the couch. When she entered he looked over and his eyes narrowed.

"Um….your clothes are drying but I found some stuff that er…might fit you. You can try it all on in my room if you want." She offered, slipping over to look at the order that had arrived. Without a word the man slowly left which allowed Morgan to set up dinner. Each burger and side of fries Morgan put on a plate and was set out on the table along with a drink. She would wait then, staring at her food as occasionally stealing a fry before nervously glancing up the stairs. It seemed to take hours before she finally heard him coming down. She didn't look back, she merely waited for him to step back into her line of sight. He did soon enough but only doing so in order to look at the hamburger skeptically.

"Sit….try and eat…?" Morgan asked softly before looking up. It was…strange seeing him in _those _clothes. One because she had gotten rather used to his bulky, layered form and two because….well….

"I don't see why. I don't need to." Alex huffed as he looked at the food with almost a lost expression. Having clothes on seemed to have dulled his rage she noticed before Morgan chose to speak.

"Because…every little detail about what's happening to you is important to me…if you want me to help figure out what's going on." Morgan explained as she started to eat. Alex seemed to hesitate again before he actually did sit. He didn't touch his food though and kept his eyes on something across the room.

"For example.." Morgan began nervously. "That whole….turning into another person thing…" She waved a hand weakly. "That would have been nice to know beforehand." She admitted before glancing up at him. He was looking at her and for once the look didn't make her cringe. "How…does that work…exactly..?" She asked nervously, not sure why she felt like she was walking on ice. There was a long silence as the man seemed to think before finally he decided to explain.

"I can consume people."

"I…what?"

"I can consume people…I can…I just can. I'm not sure how else to explain it…" Alex sighed. "I just have to get a hold of them and then…the tendrils pull them in and they just…they become a part of me…everything about them. Their looks, their clothes….their memories…" The last one made Morgan drop her fry back on her plate and her eyes focused on him.

"You can…eat peoples memories?"

"Not exactly but…when I consume them yes….their memories become mine…I can see everything they've seen. I remember everything they ever knew." It was mind blowing…that something like this could even be possible…

"I….don't know what to say…" Morgan admitted, playing around with her fries a little. "That's…kinda insane…" Alex snorted some and leaned back in his chair a little.

"It's not exactly something I enjoy…I can't forget the things I've learned. What I've seen and felt…" Well no wonder he was such an ass all the time. Having all of that on your mind…so many other people in your head so to speak…it had to be maddening. Thinking about all of this brought something to her mind and she didn't have a chance to stop the words from leaving.

"How many people have you killed?" She asked rather suddenly before shutting her mouth and bowing her head. She was probably dead now or as good as. There was a long, heavy silence between them then before he sighed.

"I don't know…I couldn't begin to count…" He muttered as he looked away. Morgan nodded to that, slowly and solemnly before she dared to look at him again. They didn't speak, not a word and ended up just…looking at one another. They didn't hold the gaze but they did look back to the one another from time to time before Morgan finally spoke up.

"Okay well…look there are some things I need to say then." She sighed as she felt some bit of courage come back. "In light of these new…developments I have a few rules I'd like to lay out…" Alex looked to her and smirked just slightly but didn't speak.

"Number one: No consuming which ends up combining with number 2. You will not be murdering anyone while you're staying here. Got that? This is a small town…things like...people getting cut completely in half is kinda noticeable and makes big headlines." She explained. "With all that in mind I have only one final rule. No more terror-tactics." Alex seemed to raise an eye at that and crossed his arms.

"Terror-tactics?"

"No more scaring the shit out of me to get you god damn way." She snapped. "I'm tried of it. This is **my **house. You're asking for **my **help and if you want it you'd best stop terrorizing me." She was feeling her courage come back now, not sure why or how that was possible but…

"And what if I don't agree with these…" Alex reasoned as he leaned closer and something flashed in his eyes.

"Then….then…." She didn't have a good enough threat...hell she didn't have any kind of threat. "Well I guess you'll just have to kill me and find someone else to do all your work…because I can't work knowing you're running around doing those things. Killing people, people who could possibly be my friends….or family…" She added softly as she leaned back and looked to the floor. Again the silence came flooding in, the air growing heavy and thick as the minutes ticked by.

"Fine."

She looked up, shock there in her eyes.

"What?"

"Fine. I accept the terms…"

* * *

**=DDD yay for chapter 3! Take that college! XD Anyways yes, Chapter 3 is here! Once again I would like to thank all of you (my readers) for being so supportive of me. I wouldn't be anywhere or worth shit if it wasn't for you guys. You keep me going when I start to question writing this thing. With that said I have a question for everyone! If you haven't already heard Prototype 2 is due out in 2012 (Does anyone find this funny in a twisted way?) and while news on it's plot and story is scarce I have learned this. Proto 2 is set to begin 14 months after the bomb. With that in mind comes my question for YOU! Yes YOU. **

_**That question being: Should I change time frame for Open Door?**_  
**This would probably mean the story would start perhaps a few months after the bomb rather than 4 years. After all I may try and incorporate stuff from Proto 2 into this story at some point if it progresses that far. SO! Leave a comment/review with YOUR answer! I need to know you guys, seriously.**

**With that said I'd also like to share this with you. I found the newest best thing EVAR! (Yeah I spelled it wrong on purpose :P) I found a Prototype Soundtrack on the Tube of you and I wish to share...or I tried and no links allowed. Darn. Ahh well. **

**Tell me your fav or not, I think it's amazing. New writing music right there. Bahaha. Oh, and hope you all enjoyed the slight fan service. Who doesn't Alex in a bath towel in there house? ;3 tehehehe 3 to you all!**

**~Aurora**

**P.S**

**Guys I know I have a lot of grammar issues and I apologize. These chapters sit in my computer for weeks before I touch them again and when I do I get overly happy to write again and yeah, I rush a bit. What more? I don't have Microsoft word like some people and so I never get a grammar check so if I screw up, sorry. I'm a poor college kid without money to buy fancy Microsoft products or to have the time to proof read so go easy on me would ya? If it bothers you then I'm sorry.  
**


	5. Who we Are

**Hey guys! Long time no see am I right? XDD So yes. Sorry for taking so long to get the next chapter up. I've had a lot of stuff going on in my personal life. From my family starting a horse carriage business to us breeding out mare it's been an exciting summer. However I am all inspired and ready to get writing! I actually have the next chapter already started so hopefully you guys won't have to wait so long.**

**However like always I need to ask your opinion on something!**  
**Lately I've been having to redo all my character profiles. My original laptop with all my story info on it actually crashed and I lost all of Morgans back story. -_- SO! While I was working on redoing all her info I found the Prototype Wiki. They have some really interesting stuff on there about Alex and his entire back story that I'm tempted to use but...here's the thing. **

**Is. It. TRUE?**

**If you guys would check it out I would be forever grateful. I want to make my readers happy after and so I don't want to put in backstory that's not true. So! Check it out, go to the wiki and tell me what you think! Should we take what is there as the truth or just stick to what we know from the game?**

**As always much love!**

~Primal 3

* * *

Once the 7 nightmarish days were up a problem arose. Morgan was out of sick days and couldn't skip out on work without arising suspicion. To make matters worse she really hadn't made any breakthroughs in regards to Alex's condition which only lead to him throwing a bit of a 'hissy fit' come Monday morning.

"Alex you can't just keep me here locked up." Morgan reasoned as she finished getting ready. She came out of her bathroom, hair finally brushed and spotting the man by her dresser. "I have friends you know…a life. People will come check on me and Gentek won't let me just drop off the radar. I happen to be apart of several high up projects." She said with a rather snide tone. However she was a little surprised to see him smirk, even chuckle lowly before repeating 'high up' to himself. Morgan scowled, huffing then as she moved to head down and maybe grab a bite to eat. Alex blurred as he jolted to the door and blocked her path.

"Ug MOVE!" She growled, glaring up at him.

"If you say _anything_ to _anyone_…."

"Psh, yeah right." Morgan laughed. "And even if I did, which I won't, it's not like anyone would believe me." She reasoned, pushing past him once he gave her enough space to do so. He would just watch her go, his glare still holding that irritated anger he had towards the whole situation. This women was supposed to be good at her job. Why was it taking so long! Below Morgan would throw in a hot pocket, heating it up before taking it with her to the couch. She settled for the time being then turned on the TV. When she hit the power button on the remote though nothing happened, the box in front of her just stayed black. Sighing she tried hitting the button again. Still nothing. She groaned some and then turned the remote over to check the batteries. They were still there and she had just put new ones in… Sighing she got up, deciding she could always turn it on by hand. She hit the power button before frowning.

"What the hell…" She hit the button some more before hissing and pulling the TV back from the wall to check the plug. It was hanging from the wall, the women's expression turning very un-amused.

"Oh Alex!" She called with an almost too pleasant tone. She quickly plugged the TV back in and moved to sit back down. He had been headed down and she had caught him at the bottom of the stairs.

"What?"

"Is there some reason you unplugged the TV?" She asked as she turned it on and settled back with her Hot Pocket.

"It was annoying me…plus there's never anything good on." He huffed as he came into the living room too.

"Psh…ain't that the truth…" She snorted to the second half. After channel flipping for a few seconds she stopped on the news and settled back. She didn't notice Alex tense to the side though, especially when the NYC report came on…

"In other news still no major progress to report in the clean up effort at NYC. Reports now are coming in that hordes of dead and mutated fish are starting to show up along the harbor shores. Experts believe this is due to the radiation emitted by the nuclear explosion some years ago…"

"No shit Sherlock!" Morgan snorted before throwing a hand at the TV. "Geez…a bunch of geniuses am I right?" She laughed as she looked to Alex. She raised an eye though, noticing that he was staring at the floor and those freaky tendrils were flicking around him.

"Er….are you okay..?"

"Turn it off….just…shut it off." He seethed, shaking some. Morgan blinked in shock at that and rushed to change the channel.

"Whoa. Whoa…just...calm down. Look the channel is changed…it's…Martha Stewart baking a cake…" She blinked before laughing some. What was the luck of finding that? She would sit back in the couch then, hurrying to finish her Hot Pocket. By the time it was done she looked back to check on Alex. He wasn't behind the couch anymore, rather he was sitting at the dinning room table. He wasn't shaking anymore but he did have his head in his hands and was breathing a bit heavily. Morgan just chose to leave this alone, rising and moving carefully through the house for the rest of the morning. When it was time to leave for work he was still there, sitting with his had down and his breathing heavy.

"I erm…I'm leaving for work…okay?" She said gently, waiting for some sort of response. He didn't move, he just continued to sit and breathe. "Well….right….bye…." She sighed as she headed away and to the door. She grabbed her keys, scarf and gloves before heading out the door. She shuddered some as she felt the air hit her face, shocked at just how cold it was out there. Had it always been this cold? Of course she hadn't been outside in a week…at least not far outside. Picking up the occasional take out delivery had been as far as she'd gotten.

Heading to work was sickeningly exciting, the women horrified that she was as thrilled to walk through those doors. She made sure to hang her coat by the door, nodding to several other people who greeted her and welcomed her back. Even the security guard at the front desk welcomed her back. Heading up to the third floor she changed into her lab attire, giggling stupidly at the geeky white coat she slipped on. She even tied her hair back and made sure to stuff a pair of gloves in her lab coat pocket. Strapping her goggles to her head she made sure to clip her ID card on as well. With the outfit complete she headed back out to find the second pair of elevators that took her up to the higher floors were the labs were.

"Morning….morning…" She greeted, nodding her head to a few people. Not moments later though all formalities disappeared when someone spotted her…

"Mmmooorrrgggaannn!" Cadence screeched as she came running down the hallway. Morgan just laughed, shaking her head some before pushing past a few people to be in the front of the elevator. After getting some angry comments shot her way she realized Cadence wasn't going to make it to the elevator before the doors closed.

"Hold the elevator!" She called, Morgan attempting to do so. However everyone else in the elevator began to shout and even toss a few foul words Morgan's way.

"Alright, alright! Geesh…" Morgan growled, stepping out and letting the elevator doors close on up. She shook her head, mumbling something about impatience before she realized how loud Cadence's footsteps were.

"Ohhh shit." She laughed, bracing herself as the girl came slamming into her and stole a hug. She almost ended up on her butt from the hit, the pair both stumbling back and hitting the elevator doors.

"I missed you so much! I'm sooo happy you're better! You look great." She giggled as looked her over.

"Well I may have some broken ribs now...maybe a punctured lung from that impact. Good god women." Morgan laughed as they both got settled on their feet again.

"Oh stop it…" She snorted before looking at the elevator doors. "Sorry for making you miss the ride up."

"Oh it will be back soon enough." Morgan reasoned with a wave of her hand. "Plus it gives me time to catch up with you." She pointed out, causing Cadence to giggle and hug her again. Oh yes…the girl was definitely going to be a blabber mouth...

Back at the apartment Alex was getting over the strange panic attack that had shaken him earlier. Why…why did seeing that, remembering the outbreak caused all those voices to start speaking? It never failed that every time the news came on and New York was mentioned they started…all those voices starting to talk, shout and scream. With Morgan gone plus the silence of the house he was able to recover and all the voices all hushed. When he was sure things were back to normal, or at least as normal as things could be for him, he rose and began to walk around once more. The house seemed different when she wasn't around, almost empty and without a life or purpose. After awhile he found himself by the goldfish again, watching as they swam about and danced. It wasn't fair how peaceful life was for them. Without a care or worry in the world except to keep swimming and maybe wonder when they would have food again. If they remembered at least. He smirked at the thought, finding it beyond pathetic that he was envying the small, insignificant fish. What he wouldn't give to just….forget.

With a snarl he moved away from the creatures, eyes looking around the hall of the apartment. Even though he had been there for a week now he hadn't actually explored it all that much. After all Morgan had to be kept in line and focused on her work. As he moved down the hall he realized the walls were thickly covered in framed photos. He snorted some as he began to look over a few. He never understood why adults kept pictures of themselves as kids, it was weird in his opinion. However Morgan did, a few scattered about of her with who he guessed were her parents. As he moved down the line she aged in the photos and soon it was a shot of her at high school graduation. Her diploma was beside and the school tassel was hanging by the frame. He let his fingers brush through the soft strings before taking another step. The next few photo's were more obviously ones of college, shots of her in a dorm and with groups of girls. One in particular grabbed his attention, enough so that he stopped in his tracks to look at it. Morgan was in the shot, she was the focus of it actually but it was the other person in the shot that drew his eyes. She was laying in the arms of a man, but not just any man but one in a very recognizable army uniform. She was laughing, an arm around his neck as he held her bridal style in front of some sort of brick building. He was smiling too, maybe even laughing. Beside that photo was another of the same pair. This time though Morgan was on her feet but tucked in close to his side. She had stolen his cap and had it on her head but pulled down as she looked up from under the brim suggestively. The man had his arm around her, an amused expression on his face and his eyes caught in a roll.

Who was this guy? Her friend? Boyfriend? Husband? He hadn't seen a ring on her hand…then again he hadn't really been looking. He sighed, looking between the shots as he tried to figure it out. Maybe this was the guy whose cloths she had loaned him so maybe they were still in touch. Sighing he moved on, trying to forget the pictures. He saw more of her on a campus, with friends and finally with another diploma. He was shocked when he saw a framed Ph. D by the diploma and another tassel. There was no way though! It took around ten to twelve years to get a Ph. D for most things but Morgan didn't look a day over 22...how was that possible?

"She can't be that smart…" He snorted to himself, rolling his eyes as he turned away from the pictures and headed back towards the living room. He took a seat on the couch, sighing as he looked around bored. He was tempted to go out but he was trying to keep his presence unknown to as many people as he could. After all the town was small and new comers were probably noticeable. His eyes soon scanned over the two file cabinets by the computer and desk. He had to wonder….did Morgan only keep work papers in there or could he snoop into her schooling too. After all…this was the women who was trying to cure him after all...

By lunch times things were just like normal. Of course Morgan was still a bit moody over how all her sick and vacation days were used up and cold season was still alive and well. After several co-workers made some jokes one could almost say she was in a bad mood. However Cadence offered to take her out to lunch and the prospect of that had her in better spirits. As the lunch period started Morgan hurried to go and change so they could head out. On her way there though she was stopped by the directors secretary.

"Mr. Donovan wishes to see you." She hummed happily. Morgan would sigh then before thanking her. She would have to message Cadence and let her know she could be late…

Mr. Donovan was, for a lack of fancy words, Morgan's boss. He ran the Maryland branch and signed everyone's paychecks. He was a nice enough man of 43 who was around 5' 11'' but his black hair had started to gray a little of late. Morgan hadn't actually seen the man since he hired her some years ago and her intuition suspected this would be about her sick days…

Taking another, special elevator Morgan would head up to the top floor. Still dressed in her lab attire she took a seat outside the mans office. His secretary, who had come up with her, had informed her he was in a meeting with a few 'important people' and would only have to wait for a little while.

Morgan planned on just waiting but as the minutes ticked by even her holy patience started to wear out. Leaning back in her chair she looked for a magazine but even those seemed to be missing. Sighing more heavily she crossed her leg and started to bounce her foot. She was going to miss her entire lunch break at this rate. When the door to Mr. Donovan's office finally opened she jumped and scrambled to sit up properly. She tried not to eavesdrop since who ever he had been meeting with was still talking but it was a little hard not to.

"We just wanted to let you know sir. The threat is probably minimal." Spoke a voice that sounded almost like someone on a radio. That had her interested so Morgan pretended to look at her nails while watching out of her peripheral vision.

"Yes well…tell your commander that I appreciate the notice. We'll keep an eye out and let you folks know if anything happens." Mr. Dovovan's voice replied. Finally the mystery guests exited the office and their appearance startled Morgan. Both were dressed head to two in black. Both covered in thick, armor like padding and wearing tough military style boots. What was more startling though were their faces that were covered by frightening gas masks that looked bizarrely modified. Who the hell were _they!_ Why where they there talking to Mr. Donovan…

"Ah Ms. Miller! There you are." Her bosses voice snapped her eyes away from the disappearing men and focused on her boss.

"I came as soon as I was told sir." She said as she rose and offered him a hand. He shook it and smiled as he invited her into the office.

"So…this is just a minor inquiry I have so don't worry." He began as he sat back in his large plush chair. The office was lavish and just like the offices in movies. It was almost too cliché for Morgan. The overly tall ceilings and bookshelves that went to the roof, the large rug and even the glistening desk that was probably made out of some ultra rare Amazon tree were all in their place. As she moved to sit across from his desk she tried to believe what he said and just nodded. Her heart was still a little off as she waited and laced her hands in her lap.

"So I have here…" He sighed as he pulled some papers up and put on his reading glasses. "That you were just out sick for this past week?" He asked as he looked up over the rims of glasses.

"Oh yes sir." Morgan nodded. "I felt rather awful and I didn't want to spread my cold. In addition I didn't want to contaminate any of the projects." She added, figuring it wouldn't hurt to brown nose just a little. Mr. Donovan nodded then, putting his glasses back on top of his head before looking at her.

"Very well. I just wanted to let you know that you've used up all your sick and personal days for the year and considering it's January I would caution you." He explained. "If you miss any other days, regardless of the circumstances, you will have a pay reduction." Morgan nodded this time, having already known this.

"I understand sir." She replied, eyes still watching him.

"Very well then. That was all." He sighed, giving a wave of his hand. "Try to stay well." He added, offering her a small smile.

"Thank you." Morgan smiled as well before heading out of his office. Well that had been simple enough and completely without reason. Hell she had known that! Once outside she glanced to the clock over the secretaries desk.

"God Dammit!" She groaned, realizing that the whole affair had taken 40 minutes. She had ten minutes left to her lunch break now and there was no catching Cadence. Well…maybe she could find something in one of the vending machines that could hold her over. After all she only had…five more hours of work….

When work was finally over Morgan felt like she was dead on her feet. The snack machine had proved to be practically useless and the bag of Chex Mix had not been enough. When five o'clock rolled around she was rushing out of that building at top speed. However it was in the elevator that things slowed down again and this time Cadence managed to catch her before the doors shut.

"Hey Mor- Whoa you look…exhausted…" She laughed weakly as she came in and stood beside her.

"Tell me about it. Mr. D called me in to tell me something I already knew and I missed lunch. Sorry about that by the way." She sighed before offering her a weak smile.

"Hey it's okay. I figured he was going to call you up to talk to you." She reasoned with a shrug. "Oh! BUT! I have fantastic news!" She giggled as she faced her.

"Uh oh…what this time? Did Bradgelina break up?" Morgan teased.

"Uh, no." Cadence snorted. "Please…if that had happened do you think I'd be here talking to you?"

"Oh gee thanks." Morgan laughed, leaning back against the wall some.

"But no…you'll never guess…..Guess."

"Cadence come'on…I'm lucky I'm still walking." Morgan whined.

"Fine, fine.." Cadence paused then and Morgan guessed it was for dramatic effect but it was wearing on her.

"Cadence….this year please?"

"Heheheh sorry. I'm just…I'm excited!" She reasoned. "I got a Promotion!" She finally gasped then.

"Oh my god! Cadence I'm soo happy for you!" Morgan beamed as she moved to hug her tight. "When did this happen! What position do you have?" She asked as they separated.

"Well I'm no longer an assistant to you top dogs." She began. "But I'm actually an overseer to all Sector C projects." She beamed happily.

"Whoa…holy crap Cadence…that's huge." Morgan gasped. Sector C was one sector below the classified projects, it was the one that she herself worked in. "So are you like…my boss now?" She laughed.

"No not quiet. I'm just going to be in charge of making sure everyone is on track and doing what they're supposed to. I report to someone else…umm…I think Mr. D said I report to the Executive Project manager." She added with a shrug. "But I'll get to come in the labs and watch you guys work! I'm pretty excited."

"Just try not to break anything." Morgan laughed teasingly before adding a Congrats. "Ahhh man…I can't mess around anymore. Damn." She grinned.

"Nope. Sure can't." Cadence nodded before standing proudly. The pair both laughed then before heading on out of the elevator and starting for the front door.

"I'll see you later Cadence. Maybe we can go celebrate?" Morgan offered as she held her coat around her more.

"Why not go tonight?" Her friend asked then.

"I um…" She needed an excuse…and not a half ass one either. "I don't think tonight would be good Cadence…I'm still getting better after all." She figured that would work.

"Oh, well…okay." Cadence smiled. "Hey maybe I can come over to your place-"

"NO!" Well crap, she hadn't meant to yell like that. "No…erm..I still have nasty snot tissues everywhere Cadence. I have to clean and just…I don't want to get you sick." She offered with the best smile she could mange.

"It's okay. I understand Morgan." Cadence smiled. "I WILL see you later though." She said, pointing at her playfully. Morgan laughed some too before nodding.

"It's a promise." She agreed. The pair would go their separate ways though Morgan's mind was on food.

Considering there was a Subway on the way home she figured she would stop there. She almost took the sandwich to go but the idea of eating without piercing eyes staring her down was too nice to pass up. So she took her time, relaxing in the store as she ate and listened to the over played pop music coming over the speakers. Finally satiated she began the dreaded walk home. Really all she wanted to do was head home and collapse in bed but she had a feeling her mighty overlord wouldn't allow for it. As she began to think about him, that mornings events came back into focus. He sure had reacted so strongly to the news coming on…it had even been strange for him. Was it something a reporter had said or was it the topic in general. A shiver of unease passed through her then, starting to wonder and dread…was he….he wasn't a victim of the New York attack was he? What more was he a result of the radiation or the virus…? Either one terrified her, enough that as she neared her apartment she was tempted to turn and run. Why return in the first place! She was free, finally free….she could run right then and be rid of this whole mess. Of course she'd probably loose her home…and what if this guy couldn't be stopped? He was a god damn shape shifter after all. As these toughts vanished away she realized she was at the door. She pulled her keys from her pocket then and noticed her that her shaking hand was hesitating by the lock. Was she insane for going back? Well yes…but…did she have a choice?

No.

Groaning she went ahead and put her key into the door, unlocking it and heading in. She paused for a moment, looking around and wondering if he had maybe left. As nice as it would have been she doubted it was going to be that easy.

"Erm….I'm back!" She called, listening in then for any sign of him. At first there was nothing, more silence before she heard the rustling of papers. Raising an eye she started down the hall towards her living room. She noticed a low one that was on in the room as well as the TV.

When she first entered she saw that the screen was on but the sound was muted. However Alex was in an unusual place. The man was loaming over her dining room table which had been buried under piles and piles of paper and folders. At first she was at a loss to where it had all come from but then her eyes caught the mostly empty file cabinets beside her computer desk. He had SNOOPED! She had left him there alone and he'd broken into her personal files!

Giving a huff she started over, arms crossed as she mustered up some anger. How DARE he! However when she neared she realized her personal files were buried deep and what he was looking at were news articles. Dozens and dozens of clippings were spread around and were all about the same thing.

'New York suffers from Biological Terrorist attack'. 'Deadly virus continues to win in Manhattan'. 'Thousands suspected dead in NYC attack'. 'Island quarantined, Military forces take control'.

For a time Morgan had followed the attack with intense focus but as of late she had been less interested. One could only take so much the news after all. However her eyes soon looked up at Alex who still hadn't even acknowledged she had returned at all. He seemed a bit off, almost like a deer caught in headlights. How long had he been standing there like that?

"Alex…?" Morgan asked softly, hoping not to startle him. The gentle method seemed to work this time and he turned to look at her. His eyes seemed a bit unfocused though, as if he wasn't completely there. Morgan looked from him to the articles then, her own eyes widening some. He…she just…she had a feeling..

"You were there…you saw what happened….didn't you?" She asked softly as she moved over to look over some of the old stories herself. He watched her, eyes still clearing before he looked to the article he had in his hands.

"Yes...I was..."


	6. Complications in Scar City

**SURPRISE! Tehehehe. Didn't expect another chapter so soon did ya? ; ) I told you guys I had the next one already started!**

**Alright so I'm going to go ahead and warn you all, I only proofread this once. I have someone who normally reads these chapters before I post them but she's in Europe right now. So...yeah. I'm tired of reading over this too because I'm ready to move on plot wise. We're getting close to some really exciting stuff. -dances around-**

**I'd also like to mention that one of you almost nailed what was coming next on the head. See I have the first 9 or so chapters outlined and one person in particular suggested some things that I had phrased in the exact same way. It was both spooky and exciting because it let me know I was thinking like one of my readers. At the same time I hope I'm not making this too predictable. **

**The next chapter probably won't be up as soon as this one was. I have some other stories and artwork I need to put some time into before working on this more. Plus, after investigating on that wiki some more I realized some things I have planned will have to be tweaked some so I'm finding loopholes to where what I have planned still works.**

**But I rambled. In short much love and thank you all for reading!**  
**~ Primal**

_**P.S. WARNING! Science content this chapter X3**_ (aka I nerded out a little) 

* * *

That had been an answer she hadn't been expected, at least not such an honest answer. She took a moment then, processing what he had just confessed to. He had been in New York…he had been there when the virus broke out...which meant...

"Do you want to...sit?" Morgan asked then, glancing to him carefully. He didn't respond but he did sit, hands still holding an article that he stared at blankly. Morgan would move to do the same though she chose to sit across from him. Now she was stuck, wanting to ask him about what he had seen, what had happened but she knew better than to snoop. That man was impossible to have a conversation with as it were and she had a feeling this was a topic that he definitely wouldn't talk about.

"So...its as bad as they all say it is.." She whispered then, not asking but rather stating a fact. Maybe that would help move things along.

"Beyond that..." Alex muttered, finally putting the article down. "Those news reports...these articles..." His voice took an angry and dangerous edge. "They don't even begin to cover it. They have no idea..." Morgan just nodded then, figuring the safest route would be to agree to everything he said.

"I actually…stopped paying it much attention after the first few months..." She said. "It sickens me…how all these politicians and news reporters just manipulate the whole thing to boost themselves…they don't even talk about the people or how it's effecting families. It's all on the politics." Alex snorted then and leaned back, eyes piercing through her.

"If you're trying to be all sweet and precious about this just stop." He growled. "If you want to know something just ask." Morgan cringed at first before nodding, trying not to react to his attitude and just inflame it more.

"What happened? And I'm not talking about all the cover up bull shit." She reasoned, leaning forward then and lacing her hands. She put her chin on them, eyes watching him as she prepared for a story.

"It's not just a simple story Morgan...it's lengthy and twisted." He reasoned, tone escalating some.

"I think I can handle it." She reasoned, eyes still watching him. Sighing Alex leaned back then, trying to think of a place to start.

"Before I even begin...you have to swear not to interrupt me." He reasoned, pointing a finger at her.

"Promise." Morgan offered, moving a hand to draw a cross over her heart. Sighing Alex thought back again, pushing away the voices that started to speak.

"First of all…it was all your beloved Gentek. They were the source of everything." He began. Morgan had to fight an eye roll, pretty sure this guy was a conspiracy theorist. "Redlight came first...that was the first project they started. It was in the late 60's...69 to be specific." Alex began. Morgan noted his eyes looked a bit fogged over as he spoke, almost like he was speaking from…another part of himself. "Hope, Idaho was the unfortunate test subject and practically everyone died. All except for one person...Elizabeth Greene..." His tone turned venomous when he spoke the name, leaving Morgan to believe this wasn't the last time she would hear about this women... "The military captured her and held her as their test subject until four years ago." Now they were getting somewhere. "By that time things had changed...they didn't call the strain Redlight anymore, rather it was called Blacklight." His eyes cleared a little more then and actually focused on Morgan. "Had I know what we ad been getting into…what we were making..." WE! What he…HE had worked for Gentek! Morgan opened her mouth, wanting to ask a million questions but she caught herself. His eyes narrowed, waiting for her to interrupt but she didn't. Closing her mouth Morgan rested back and waited for him to continue.

"It got out...it was let loose in the city and I was right there when it happened. I woke up on a morgue table with two goons about to slice me open. Ever since then I've been...like this." He sighed and raised an arm. The tendrils snapped around his arm, morphing it and soon enough each of his fingers was a long glistening blade. Again Morgan was tempted to speak but she let the silence settle in and just watched. So….he had been apart of it…he had worked on the disease that was going rampant in New York and, in theory, it had been home grown…. After a moment Morgan realized she was staring at Alex's mutant hand, the women coughing softly and turning her head away. She let her hand scratch her arm softly before she looked up and at him again. He was staring right back a her, eyes almost looking black. She gulped softly and ducked her head down, still not daring to speak. There had to be more to this story...how did he get here after all? His arm would morph back to normal then before he finally continued.

"When I woke up...I didn't have any memory of my life. Complete amnesia. So…for the next few weeks I worked on finding out just what had happened. That's when the consuming thing comes in...what I mentioned before..?" He prompted as Morgan nodded. How could she not forget him turning into another person? "Well there were certain...individuals...ones that held memories of what had happened and sometimes what had happened to me. So...I consumed them... That's how I learned most of the things I do, like Hope, Idaho." He explained. "I even hunted down Greene, Randal and McMullen…" The last name made Morgan's eyes widen some and even a tremor to run down her back. Alex raised an eye before chuckling. "Alright...what? What did I say?" He asked. Morgan assumed it was okay to speak then so she did.

"Erm…M-mcMullen…he used to run Gentek…he was CEO…" Alex nodded. "We…we were told he died in a helicopter crash…"

"I didn't kill him, I never said that." Alex reasoned then. "I just hunted him down…he shot himself like a coward before I even got the chance." He reasoned.

"But…Greene and that Randal guy?" Morgan asked softly. Alex just nodded then before resting back himself.

"Umm…can I just ask one question?" Morgan asked then, having picked this inquiry carefully.

"I suppose I'll answer _one_…" Alex sighed, almost sounding a little amused.

"Where did the Nuc come from?" Morgan asked, eyes daring to look at his again. She was surprised to see Alex look away, almost as though he was ashamed or something...

"The army brought it in on a carrier…if they didn't get the island under control they were planning to detonate it..." Morgan's heart spiked then, her mind on all the people who were still there at the time. All those innocents…But how did it get off shore? "Before it went off I stole a Blackhawk and took it out as far as I could…then I dropped it. It still went off but at least the city is still in one piece." He sighed eyes going back to Morgan. She appeared to be in a bit of shock though her next words would actually make him…almost smile.

"You can fly a helicopter?" She asked, grinning some herself. Alex rolled his eyes then and nodded before turning to look out a window. Well that...that had been startling...He had revealed more than she expected and left her with a lot to think about. Morgan would continue to sit, just thinking for a time before she did get up.

"I um...I think I'm going to go to bed...it's been a long day." She sighed. Alex didn't respond at all and just continued to stare out the window. "If you get hungry or anything…you can raid the kitchen." She offered, getting nothing from him but a shrug. "And I don't know what you do at night but you can sleep on the couch…there are blankets and pillows in the closet in the hall." Still nothing. With an eye roll she left then, planning to take a hot shower then collapse in bed. However when she reached the hall she stopped, remembering something she felt like telling him about…

"Alex?" She asked, looking back around at him. This time she managed to gain his attention and he turned to look at her. "There were...men...at work today…strange men.." He sat up a bit more in his chair. "I had to talk to our director and they were in there before I got there…"

"What was so strange about them?" He asked as he even turned in the chair to face her.

"Well…they were covered from head to toe in black gear. Some of it was like that armor some army people wear, they had the big boots to but…the thing was…they had really weird gas masks on. They were down right freaky looking if you ask me." She sighed as she rubbed her own arms some. Just thinking about them gave her the willies. She took another look at Alex then, a little surprised to see him on his feet and a little worried looking. "Were they…bad?" She asked then, watching as he moved over to be close.

"How many were there?" He asked, voice lowered as he talked to her.

"Just two."

"Do you know what they told him? Your director?" Morgan shook her head but then remembered.

"I don't know what exactly they said but...I think they were informing him about something. He told them he appreciated them letting him know and if anything was seen the men's commander would be told." She recalled, hoping that was all right. "Alex is there something going on? Do you know who those guys were?" She asked. The man just stood stiff, thinking about what on earth he could do about this…

"I'm going out..." He reasoned then as he sped towards the door. Morgan followed with a worried expression on her face. Something was going on and he wasn't telling her. "Lock the door behind me." He told Morgan as he reached the door. Again she just nodded, taking a hold of the door when he opened it and passed through. He headed on out into the dusk of the evening, looking on edge and a bit off. Morgan sighed, watching him go before she shut the door and locked it. Suddenly she felt more vulnerable without him in the house..

That night Morgan had trouble getting to sleep. Her mind was filled with images from Alex's story and those men she had seen at work. Something big was going on here and even though Alex had told her what he knew she still felt like she was missing something. After an hour or so of fitful tossing and turning she was able to settle down. Only when she was close to sleep did she hear the door slam downstairs. He was back and she was immediately awake again. For the time she ignored the fact that he had gotten into the house when the door was locked without a key; she just sat up and listened closely to see what he was doing. After awhile she thought he was going to stay downstairs but suddenly she heard footsteps heading up. For some reason her heart rate accelerated and she hurried to settle back in bed. She even went as far as to pretend to be asleep when the door opened. He hovered in the doorway for awhile, hesitating before he finally spoke.

"Are you up?" It was Alex though he sounded a bit off. Morgan sat up then, not even bothering to act sleepy.

"Yeah…you okay?" He didn't answer that and just moved into the room.

"Your bathroom downstairs doesn't have a shower..." Morgan blinked some and nodded.

"It doesn't...it's just a half bath...do you want to shower?" She asked. He gave a nod then and looked to the attached bath. "You can...though the extra set of clothes I gave you are downstairs..." She noted.

"I'll manage." He grumbled, moving then to head into the bathroom. Morgan let him go, settling in bed as he shut the door and turned on the light. She wasn't going to bother asking…he sounded rough. Plus now that he was back she suddenly felt exhausted. That coupled with the sound of the shower running soon helped her drift off to sleep.

The following morning went a little better than Monday. There was no angry Alex pouting at her door like before and the bathroom was actually in one piece. Heading down for breakfast Morgan was actually startled to see him where he was. The man actually looked like he was asleep and was in the change of clothes she had loaned him. It never failed to surprise her what he looked like when he was out of all those layers and hoodie. At the moment he actually looked peaceful, no scowl on his face or anger in his eyes. His hair was a bit messy and draped over his face slightly while his arm was pulled back under his head. Morgan actually had to fight a smile as she tip toed into the kitchen. She didn't want to wake him up but what was there in the kitchen she could put together without noise? Sighing she looked around and tapped her foot softly. Finally she turned to the refrigerator, procuring a cup of yogurt and then an apple from the counter. Smiling she headed back out, taking a seat at the dinning room table that was still covered in papers. As she ate her yogurt she looked over some of the old articles with a bit of criticism. With all that Alex had told her the reports did become a bit irrelevant, no wonder he had been so moody when he saw them. She jumped when the Tv suddenly came on; the remote hitting the floor and causing Alex and jump as well. She laughed weakly, watching as he sat up and hit the button to turn it off.

"Morning." Morgan said softly as she kept an eye on him. He ran a hand through his hair before groaning and leaning forward some. Was he sick or something? What had happened last night? "Are you okay?" She asked then as she stood up to get a better look at him.

"Fine." He growled, the tone making Morgan sit again. Okay so he needed his space. Wish granted. For the rest of the morning she let the grump do what he wanted which wasn't much. He changed the turned the tv back on and channel surfed before he rested back into the couch again. He was out by the time Morgan went out the door which left her wondering even more so about what had happened. However soon work was the most important thing on her mind and this time she was planning to have lunch with Cadence. However she was a little surprised that day since she didn't see the girl. Not when she arrived nor when she got to working in the lab. It wasn't until an hour before lunch that she finally saw her. Morgan was waiting on a gel to finish running, leaning against the desk by the device. Admittedly she could have been working on other things but she was going to wait for those last five minutes. Doodling on her clip board she looked up when she heard someone come in.

"Well look who it is! Ms. Overseer." She grinned. However Cadence didn't laugh or even smile, rather she kept a plain face and pulled out a pen.

"Hello Ms. Miller." She greeted, sounding way too formal for her own good. Morgan even snorted at the greeting since Cadence had never called her that. "So what is it you're working on right now?" She asked, coming over with her own clipboard to look.

"Oh I'm running a gel...this is for the Quickhatch project." Morgan explained. "Look Cadenece I know you have a new job and all but you don't have to act like this...it's me." She grinned. Cadence just ignored her though and pushed some papers around on her clipboard.

"I don't have you down for being a part of that project." Cadence reasoned with a harder tone. Blinking Morgan sighed and nodded.

"Well..no. I'm not officially on board with it but Dr. Vanner asked for my opinion on some things and I offered him my help." She explained. "See I found a new place to cut the code so we can test it on a gel an-"

"Well I have here that you're officially signed on to work on 5 other projects…I think your time and effort would be better spent on those. We don't pay you to not do your job." Who the hell was this! This wasn't Cadence! This women had a stick up her ass. Morgan just watched her in shock, eyes a bit piercing as she waited for Cadence to finish up. "Consider this an official warning. If you're caught working on other projects you will be suspended." She finished writing something on her clipboard then moved away, a bit of an attitude in her walk. Morgan watched her, a bit of a temper rising in her veins. Where did she get the NERVE! When lunch came around she avoided Cadence this time, not wanting to see her if she could help it. Was she mad because she hadn't gone out to celebrate the day before? That was childish even for Cadence.

Heading out for lunch she made sure to grab her work laptop from her locker, planning to do a little snooping while at the local dinner. Alex and brought up specific names of Gentek projects...she wanted to see if she could find them on the database. After ordering her meal she pulled the laptop out. Once she got a connection with the server and went through three password pages before finally getting to the search engine she wanted. Pausing she thought for a moment, trying to remember exactly what he had said. Something light…both of them were something light… Groaning she hit her head some, trying to remember but she couldn't. She turned her head some then to look out a window but on the way she noticed everything on the table. The salt and pepper shakers were there, the napkin holder, ketchup…

Redlight! That had been the name of one of those projects! She laughed some before turning back to her computer and typing in the name and hitting search. It took a moment before there was an angry buzz and the words 'Search Not Found' popped up. After turning down the volume Morgan started to think about, trying to recall that second name. This one came easier to her so she typed in 'Blacklight'. However just then her food arrived and the computer was pushed to the side. After nibbling on a few fries she turned back and went ahead and hit search. This time it was going to take longer for the search to go through so Morgan turned to her food. She would manage to eat about half of sandwich before her computer chimed.

"About damn time..." She sighed, turning to it and raising an eye. It had found something but in doing so pulled up one serious security page. She hesitated then, not sure if her Sector C clearance would get her in or not. If her clearance wasn't enough would the system flag her computer and get her into major trouble? Deciding it was too risky she hit cancel and logged out. At least she knew the name was right so some part of his story had to be true. Was it all true though? Could she really trust him? Part of her wanted to but everything just seemed….so outlandish. What more she was a scientist and nothing could be proven without evidence. Morgan would pack away the laptop soon enough before settling back in the booth. She let herself focus turn to lunch and Cadence as finished up her food. Something was up with that girl and she didn't know what but it could not last. Maybe a stern talking to her when they were both off work...somewhere were she couldn't actually get into real trouble. After all Cadence was first and foremost her friend and her acting like she had been was completely off her norm. Lunch ended soon enough and for the rest of the day Morgan hurried to finish her work. When she finally headed home she didn't get a chance to catch Cadence but figured it may have been for the better. Maybe the pressure of her new job had stressed her out or maybe her boss had been watching her?

When she got home she wasn't sure what she would find. She had never seen Alex tired before and he had appeared exhausted when she left that morning. If he was still out of it she was going to demand to know what he had done the night before despite what her self preservation voice was telling her. Once she was in the door she realized it was silent in the house again, not a good sign.

"Alex?" She called out, moving down the hall once she had removed her coat. There was a muffled groan from the living room which made her pick up her pace. On arriving in the living room she saw the man was still in the same place he had been when she left him only this time he was a bit more sprawled out. What more there were stains on the front of his shirt that Morgan didn't remember seeing before...they looked dark, almost black but they were red at the edges...

"Oh my god..." She hissed, rushing over then to look at him. She put a hand to his forehead which he managed to smack away. "Alex...oh my god are you okay? You...you look like you're bleeding..." She reasoned, moving her hand to touch one of the stains. He stopped her though, grabbing her wrist as he opened his eyes.

"Don't..." He warned, a chill running through Morgan. That was right...if...if he was infected...

"Well you can't just sit here and bleed out...what's wrong with you?" She asked, pulling her hand back then.

"I...I don't know..."

"Well you could start by telling me what happened last night." She growled, watching his eyes narrow at her tone. However he was in no place to argue here.

"Lets just say...I got shot...a little bit..."

"You got SHOT!" She gasped, getting up then. Ah hell what did he DO! What could she do! How was he even still alive...? There had to be four stains on the front of the shirt alone.

"Yes I got shot…for the love of god keep your fucking voice down." Alex groaned then. Morgan shut her mouth then looked away a little.

"Sorry...just...tell me what to do..." She reasoned as she got up on her feet.

"I...I don't know what to tell you. I normally heal back on my own and the wounds don't last but...they are." He explained before grimacing some. He was actually in pain...

"Well...when was the last time you ate?" Morgan offered as she moved into the kitchen. Would pain medication work on him? Somehow she doubted it would.

"Morgan will you give up on that? I don't need to eat!" Alex roared. Morgan however wasn't going to give up on it. Rushing she moved around the kitchen, slicing up an apple into five slices and getting a glass of water. She came back out then, finding it almost amusing he was acting like a whiny 5 year old. He was lying on the couch moaning and groaning though admittedly he was shot.

"Will you at least try it?" She asked, holding out an apple slice. Alex just glared then turned his head away. Yup. Five year old. "Alex you said yourself you don't know what's wrong. We might as well start somewhere. Now get your head out your ass and take the damn apple!" She snapped while shaking the slice at him. The man turned back to face her, eyes narrowed before he held out a hand.

"Fine...but it's pointless and it's not going to work. I don't need to eat." He reasoned as Morgan dropped the apple into his hand. He held it for awhile, eyeing it like it was some foreign object before taking the smallest bite possible.

"Uuggg...jack ass." Morgan growled as she sat on the small table by the couch. Alex smirked, swallowing down the tiny bit before taking a larger one. He had forgotten how good food tasted. He would actually finish the slice, making Morgan smile and offer him the whole plate she had made up. He sighed, ignoring her then until she put the plate on his chest.

"I can get you some peanut butter too...apples are great dipped in peanut butter." She hummed, a bit of an 'I told you so' tone to her voice.

"No thank you." Alex growled, starting on another apple. Morgan grinned some in the kitchen though. She knew he was beyond pissed but he had still said thank you. She would grab a snack for herself then before returning by his side. She was surprised to see all but two of apple slices gone.

"Thirsty at all?" She asked as she offered out the glass. He grunted at first and appeared to turn it down before he moved his hand to take it from her. Morgan smirked proudly then before handing it to him and resting back. She would watch him drink about half the glass and eat all the apples before she had to ask. "Are you feeling any better?" She asked, noticing that the stains on the shirt looked like they were drying now.

"A bit..." Alex admitted, handing her the glass back before sitting up. The room spun a little but not much so he counted that as an improvement. He sighed then and looked at the shirt before deciding to check the wounds. He pulled the shirt off and put it on the floor as he looked down at his chest.

There were four very red and sore looking spots but none of them were bleeding anymore.

"Looks like I was right." Morgan smirked. "I think eating helped." She reasoned as she moved to go get him something else. Alex just made a face, poking the spots before sighing. Why was it helping though? Why was this happening in the first place? He thought about it as Morgan fetched him more food, this time coming back with pretzels and more apple slices. She set them on the table before moving to sit on the other side of the couch. He took another slice and started to chew before he sighed and had to say something.

"I don't understand why this is helping though...I've never had a problem before. I've always been able to heal right up." He sighed as he glanced to Morgan.

"Well...you're not exactly in the same place as you were." She pointed out. "When was the last time you really had to heal?" She asked then as she nibbled on some pretzels herself. Alex had to think for a moment, trying to remember the last time he had seriously gotten injured.

"The last serious injury I had was probably with the Nuc...I was caught in the blast and the only reason I reformed was because of a crow. I consumed it and was able to come back in one piece." He said as though it was no big deal. Morgan's eyes were wide though, not able to imagine what he must have looked like…

"So wait...whenever you've been really hurt you just consume someone and you heal up right?" Morgan asked once the shock had worn off. Alex would nod and continue to watch her, having a feeling she was onto something. Morgan continued to think for a moment before looking at him again.

"When was the last time you consumed something?" She asked. Alex had to think about that one, leaning back on the couch some before coming up with an answer.

"Probably right before I left New York so...a few months ago?" He offered out. It wasn't an exact answer but it was the best he could do. It seemed good enough too, Morgan nodding some before smiling a little.

"Alex I think that may be it. You're only able to heal up because you consume people." She explained. "By consuming someone you're able to absorb everything in their body, nutrients and all and more importantly…the amino acids you can't make yourself." She explained. "So because you haven't consumed in so long your cells and the virus that's affecting you hasn't been able to function right. Hell I'm shocked your cells are still duplicating. After all when your cells multiple the-"

"Some of the genetic code is cut off in the process I know Morgan I get that. I'm a geneticist too." He snorted. He smirked then too, this one almost seeming...happy.

"Well then you understand then. Because you haven't been supplying yourself with the amino acids you need to redo the code you've been weakening for months. That's why you couldn't heal." He was almost still a normal person. After all that was why all living creatures had to eat.

"Well it's about damn time you figured something out about me." Alex smirked then as he relaxed back.

"I'll take that as a thank you..." Morgan growled before smiling some. "So you're going to have to start eating again because you agreed not to consume people anymore." She reminded as she looked at him. He sighed then and waved a hand as he started to ignore her again. She just smirked then and rose to start thinking about dinner. "Oh…and what about that shirt? You stopped me earlier…" She reasoned as she looked at it.

"Oh...well...I figured you don't want to end up like me." Alex reasoned as he picked up the shirt. "We should probably burn this…" He added.

"Can you take care of that somehow? I don't have a place to burn things..." Morgan sighed then before receiving a nod from Alex.

"I'll handle it later tonight." He assured as he moved to get another shirt. Morgan nodded then and let him go while she went ahead to start cooking.

As the night continued to pass several things happened. Morgan would cook a rather nice dinner and secondly she started running some scenario's on her computer. With what she had figured out that night about Alex she had a few new theories on how to cure him.

"How long will they take to finish up?" Alex asked as he looked over her shoulder.

"A few days..." Morgan sighed as she leaned back in her chair. "It has a lot of data to process and there is still some unknown factors that could mess up the whole program. We'll have to be patient with things for awhile." She explained before glancing back at him. Since he had eaten he had been in a much better mood, something she was beyond thrilled with. "So if you can, just check on it from time to time during the day. If the power goes out or anything we'll have to start over but that's not exactly something we can control." She added. Alex gave a nod then and moved back to sit.

"I'll keep an eye out." He assured her before turning his eyes to the TV. For safeties sake they had left it on the Discovery channel for most of the night. As he focused on it Morgan got up, stretching some before moving into the kitchen. She made herself a bowl of ice cream before offering to make him some too. He turned it down as she suspected but it was worth a shot. He had eaten the dinner she had made and thus resulted in his chest healing right up. Once her dish was made Morgan joined him on the couch, not really watching the show and mainly just thinking about bed. However, like he never failed to do, Alex spoke up rather suddenly and startled her.

"Who is he?" He asked, the bowl in Morgan's hand almost slipping from her grip.

"Who is who?" She asked as she looked at him.

"The man in the photo's with you...the army one." He explained. Morgan smiled some at that but her eyes glassed over some.

"Oh…that's my brother Conner." She answered, noticing she seemed to have surprised him some. "He joined about 5 years ago." She added. Alex nodded then and looked down to the clothes he was wearing.

"Are these..."

"His? Yeah...they are." She nodded. "He would come and visit so he just bought some clothes to leave here." Nodding Alex began to get a little on edge wondering...did he still come around… After all he and the army didn't have the best friendship in the world…not that Morgan knew that.

"Does he...still come visit?" He asked, watching as her eyes started to water some.

"No..." She mumbled softly, her thumb running over the rim of the bowl. "No he...he um..." She cleared her throat some. "He went missing about 4 years ago…right after the outbreak actually." She told him. Well that didn't make his unease go away at all. If he had been in New York then...there was a chance…

"Oh..." He nodded some then, silence falling once more. He noticed that Morgan wasn't eating anymore and her eyes looked dangerously close to spilling over. "I um...I have a sister..." He said then, wanting to do something to get this…twisting, unpleasant feeling in his stomach to go away. Morgan looked over at his words, tentative and listening. "An um...younger sister...Dana."

"Where is she?" Morgan asked then, voice still quiet.

"New York." He sighed, eyes going to the floor. "She helped me…when it all first happened…she was helping me find out who was responsible…what had happened…" It was difficult to think about her, to remember…

"Is she...-"

"I don't know...she...she got hurt. She got hurt thanks to me and I took her to a friend I trusted. He was a doctor who was working on the infection in the city but...I never had a chance to go back and see if she was really okay. Things just...got out of hand..." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. Morgan nodded some then, giving him a weak smile. She almost put a hand on his shoulder but stopped herself, remembering how he had reacted earlier to her hand on his head.

"I bet she's fine…you know they started letting people off the island…I bet she's out of there now." She offered. Alex just shrugged, not saying much and starting to close up again. Morgan noticed and so she moved to put her bowl away in the kitchen. It had been a hell of a day and especially night so she was thinking both of them needed to rest.

Once the kitchen was clear she headed back out and started for the stairs.

"Again…kitchen is open and blankets are in the closet." She informed him as she pointed it out. Alex gave a nod then before starting to stretch out on the couch. Morgan started up the stairs then, mind on a bath but she did stop for a moment.

"Night." She called, not expecting a response back. Alex didn't speak but he did give a wave, Morgan smiling just a little. Hey…it was better than nothing right?


	7. An Ugly Truth

**I just want to tell all of you again just how much you mean to me. Every once and while I see a little alert pop up on my computer, telling me someone has added my story to their favorites or reviewed it. It's keep my smiling and wanting to continue to write. What more, as many of you know, Prototype 2 came out! -screams happily-**

**I've already beaten it (Of course X3) and I know I want to add in some things and ideas that the game gave us. Do you guys approve? I mean, nothing major, just how the city has been set up and things like the new zones (Green, Yellow and Red). I like how they did all that but of course I'll be putting on my own little twist. 3 Let me know what you think!  
For those of you who haven't played the second game...well...DO IT! Watch video's online or something! XDD  
**

**3 to you all  
**

**~Primal  
P.S. I've already started on the next chapter. Hopefully you won't have to wait long ;D The stuff coming up is a lot more actiony so I'll be more motivated to write.  
**

* * *

Days would turn into weeks, and weeks into months. The bitter cold of winter started to loose its edge and the snow finally disappeared from the streets. Morgan was thrilled about the change in the weather but when it came to anything else she wasn't. The computer scenarios had failed completely and no matter how many times they ran them it all came down to one problem.

They didn't have enough data.

No matter how many times they would run it, it always ran into the problem that there was simply not enough data to render a solution. Running through her theories, Morgan didn't know what to do but she had to admit she felt grateful for Alex's patience. She didn't know what had brought it on but it made things easier on her knowing that he wasn't ready to slit her throat. After all, it wasn't the only thing that had her stressing out beyond belief. At work things had started to change drastically.

Cadence had stopped talking to Morgan completely which had really upset the women, but she was a little too preoccupied to hurt much. The creepy men she had seen her first day back were showing up more often. Not only that but she was positive more of them were showing up too. She had no idea why but knowing they were around gave her the willies. She was paranoid enough with Cadence monitoring her every breath but these creepers seemed to be doing the same thing. She heard stories from her co-workers about being interviewed by the men. However they didn't ask the regular questions. They would ask things like: Why they had decided to work for Gentek? How long had they worked there? Were they happy with their jobs? What was their opinion on the New York Disaster? It almost seemed like a mandatory evaluation but as far as anyone knew these men didn't work for Gentek. The entire work environment had Morgan on edge and it was starting to get to a point to where she was close to a break down. On one particular Friday in April she was actually close to tears as she paced around the house.

"I just…I don't know what I'm going to do! Those men…if they aren't there to shut us down…I don't know what they want. And if I'm not fired it will be a miracle and if that does happen…" She snorted and ran a hand through her hair. "Well then you're out of luck and all of this has been for nothing!" And in short she was dead. After all, had that not been then deal? She had to cure him or she would die, right?

"You know….you're starting to act crazier than I am…." Alex sighed as he turned to look at her from his spot on the couch. His smirk and humor did not amuse Morgan and earned him two middle fingers. He actually chuckled at that before moving his legs off the couch so she could sit.

"Well I'm thrilled you're no longer concerned with how I'm going to fix….well you." She snorted, gesturing to all of him. Alex sat up more then and sighed.

"I am concerned. I just don't see the problem…"

"Alex we're STUCK! I can't do anything more for you. I don't have the data or the means to get it." Morgan groaned as she put her hands over her eyes. That had the man thinking though, his form shifting so that his head rested in one of his hands. Some silence passed before he turned to look at Morgan.

"What if we could get the data…whatever kind it is you need of course?" He offered

"Impossible. To get that sort of information I'd need…equipment, really advanced stuff. Nothing like I have here." She sighed. At best she had a decent microscope buried in a box somewhere in the abyss of a closet in the hall. But it probably wasn't much better than one you could pick up in a high school science store.

"And where would this 'really advanced stuff' be exactly?" He pried, lips working up into a bit of a troubling, mischievous smile. Would she figure it out on her own?

"Well….Gentek obviously…" Morgan snorted as she dropped her hands from her eyes. "But that would be nut-" She stopped, eyes finding him and that sneaky little grin. "Ohhh no. No Alex…" She began. "There is no WAY! We can't….I can't just walk you in the front door!" She reasoned, watching as he smirked more.

"Who said anything about a front door?" He asked, chuckling some.

"What? BREAK IN!" Morgan gasped. "Alex no…that's…that's impossible! We can't break into Gentek. That's….lunatic talk." He snorted at that only to lean back and gesture to himself.

"And?"

"Ug…" Morgan slumped back on the couch. Break in? Break IN! She didn't even know where to start. Hell she hadn't ever cheated on a test before so the idea of breaking into a building like two criminals was making her head hurt.

"It's not that hard…just…take it easy and we'll plan this one step at a time." Alex reasoned, almost sounding too calm for her liking. Since when was he the calm and sensible one?

"Alex you make it sound like we're going to bake a cake or something…Gentek isn't like some mom and pop store. They have some really high class security." She reasoned, having to fight a glare when he started to snicker again. "You know…I can't figure out for the life of me how it's you annoying me now…" Morgan sighed as she slumped back against the couch. Alex just laughed more before he moved to look around. He would end up at her desk and return with a pad of paper and pen.

"Here….now think." He reasoned as he handed it to her.

"Uuggg but it hurts to think." Morgan whined, not touching the paper as he set it in her lap.

"There has to be a way in Morgan…something, some way in that they wouldn't think about being a problem…" He pried, trying to help her mind. "Think…" Morgan sighed, head down some as she rubbed her temples.

"I….I just….I don't know…" She sighed. "Alex even if we do get in, there are….tens…hundreds of surveillance cameras. What do we do about those?"

"Morgan you're thinking too far ahead….we need to focus on just getting in right now." Alex sighed, trying to get her back on track. "Now….what possible way could they not imagine someone breaking in?" He asked again as his eyes watched her own.

"Well..." She thought out of the box, trying to think of the impossible since that seemed to be what he was looking for. "I suppose they'd never expect someone to fly in. I mean yeah, on a helicopter but they have sensors on the roof so that would never work. But…I think Mr. D leaves his window open in his office. I mean…why would he have a reason to lock it? It's not like someone could ever get in right? He's thirty stories up." She laughed softly. However Alex's face had her hush almost instantaneously. He looked so serious….at least in his eyes he did. His smirk at returned from before, the almost happy one that still had a hint of mischievousness.

"Alex… I know you have powers but….I don't think even you can climb a 30 story building." She mused, laughing weakly because his smirk still wasn't fading.

"Ignoring your doubt in me…" He sighed then, poking the pad with a finger. Why wasn't she writing this down? Morgan sighed then and picked up the pen then so she could write. First she wrote a title which read 'List of Suicidal ideas'. Alex chuckled some at that before he leaned back to watch.

"Alright so if we get in…" She began as she scribbled a note about Mr. D's window. "What exactly do you think we can get accomplished? There are still the cameras." She pointed out. Alex nodded as he acknowledged the problem and leaned forward to think.

"I'm not sure if things work the same way for you as they did for me but the Gentek in New York had just as many security precautions." He began to recall. "But there was a flaw in the entire system. Because there were so many cameras they had to reset them every night at a certain time. All the footage shot that day was then backed up on the system before all the cameras would come back online and start filming again. They were down for at least a few minutes. I'm not sure if it's the same for your building but I suppose you'll have to find out." Morgan snorted then and gave him a bit of a look.

"And how the hell am I supposed to find that out? I can't just walk up to one of the guards and ask." Admittedly she had a point.

"Don't you have Sector C clearance?" He asked.

"Yeah but that doesn't help me. I'm still one sector below the classifieds and I doubt they even know if and when the cameras reset." She reasoned before her hand started to doodle on the pad. This seemed like such a dead end to her…there was just no way to get this done.

"Find out then."

"Pardon?" She snorted before turning to him.

"Find out. You have friends right? See if you can't 'observe' some gross old scientist and steal a computer. They never put password protection on them because they're all too tight assed." He snorted. Morgan could have sworn but it was almost like he was speaking as though….he really knew… Had he really worked in that high a sector?

"I don't have any high up friends Alex. What, do you expect me to go in with some low top and shorts and use my feminine good looks to charm my way in?" She snorted. Near the end she had started pretending to be serious and leaned over a bit close to nudge him.

"Uh huh…well it's a start…" Alex snorted, looking away and trying to ignore how close she was getting. Morgan backed off soon enough, laughing some and writing on the pad again.

"Alright so, say I find out when the camera's reset…then what?" She asked as she got back on track.

"Do you know what equipment you'll need to get the data?" He asked as he put his feet up on the table in front of the couch.

"Yeah that's the easy part, don't worry about that. But the cameras are still a problem. After all you said they're only off for a few minutes." She pointed out before pushing his feet off the table. That was not something he was allowed to do.

"I can handle that." He smirked before glaring when she pushed his feet off. "How long do you think it will take for you to get the data you need?"

"Fifteen maybe…I don't know…." She sighed, tapping her pencil to her chin then. She looked away, out into the hall as she thought and gave Alex a chance to sneak his feet back up on that table.

"Alex, they aren't going to be….that pleasant…" She warned, eyes not daring to look at him just yet.

"I didn't expect them to…I'll deal…" He sighed as his eyes started to drift to the tv. He unmuted it as he felt the conversation end and relaxed. However when Morgan turned around her eyes caught his feet.

"Alex! Stop putting your feet up there! That is not your personal throne!" She growled standing and shoving his legs off again. Alex glared again though, waiting until she was walking past him to give her a half shove. It was pretty harmless but it caused her to snap around on him, eyes on fire. He just smirked, crossing his arms then as he put his feet up for a third time.

"God damn you! Stop it!" She roared, rushing at him and starting to push at his legs. The man was like a statue though, unmoving and glued in the position. He outright laughed at Morgan, watching as she walked and struggled in place to try and push his legs down. "Jack ass!" She shouted again, giving up but not before kicking at his legs. Again he just laughed and watched her stomp off towards the kitchen. As she slipped away his arm morphed and zipped across the room just in time to grab her shoe with his odd claws. She stumbled a good bit but managed not to fall. Alex thought it was hilarious, laughing more as she started to scream out curses.

"You god damn mother fucker! Leave me alone you bully!" She was whining just enough towards the end for him to feel accomplished. Was it twisted that he enjoyed picking on her like this? It really was fun though…

"I'm going to bed now you big ass…so just leave me alone." Morgan growled once she was done getting herself some ice cream. She headed out of the kitchen but Alex was watching her.

"What do you mean you're going to bed? It's only 7 o'clock!" He laughed.

"Well you're exhausted my patience. Good. Night." She hissed as she headed up the stairs.

"But you didn't even cook dinner…"

"I'm not your mother! Cook something yourself if you're hungry!" She snapped before slamming her door upstairs. Okay…maybe he had pushed it a little…then again why was she so upset this time?

* * *

Morgan's mind was raging once she was upstairs, the women rushing to eat her ice cream. Stupid, jack ass….being such a dick and acting like such a stubborn mule….she was stressed out enough!

"Ow ow ooowww!" She whined then, a hand going to her head. Okay, so eating ice cream in a rushed angry state was not the best idea. Sitting on the bed she put the ice cream on her bed side table and just relaxed. Why was Alex getting to her so much these days? Sure he had been going out of his way a little to pester her but she blamed that on the fact he never left the house. He was probably just going a bit stir crazy. She knew it used to scare her when he used to mess with her like he was, always fearing he was going to break her neck or the worse. It always set her heart running in her chest but that….hadn't changed so much. Even now she could still hear it humming in her ears but she didn't know why. She wasn't really afraid of Alex anymore so why was it that every time he started picking on her that her heart still started to beat so hard? Irritated and tired the women avoided thinking too much into the solutions her mind was coming up with. After all he'd only been there for a few months…it…didn't make sense for her… She shook her head and rose then, sighing as she marched to the bathroom. A hot shower would clear her head. It had to…

The following morning didn't bring an end to her stress. The idea of having to sneak into the classified level of Gentek was making her stomach upset which lead to breakfast only consisting of coffee. Alex didn't understand why she was so upset but she just ignored him and finished getting ready. He held back on the pranks that morning considering how she was acting, even though it was tempting to do something…

Morgan however was thrilled to get out of the house but when she saw that massive building arise she felt her queasiness return. What was she getting herself into! It was hard to act normal when she walked past the security desk but when the creepy black suited men rounded a corner she about lost it. She skidded into the elevator, squeezing in and making a few people curse and groan but she didn't care. She didn't even notice the slight shaking she had going on but someone else did.

"Hey Morgan…you alright?" Asked a concerned voice. It felt like warm water crashing on ice to her compared to Alex's cold tone.

"Oh…h-hey Eric." She greeted after a moment. She had shamefully forgotten his name up until she caught those warm chocolate eyes of his. He was a pretty nice guy that Cadence had tried to set her up with a few times but Morgan had no desire to date someone from work.

"You sound kinda shaky…everything okay?" He asked as he slipped through some people to come and stand by her. He was just around 6 feet tall with tousled brown hair just a shade lighter than his eyes. He had a smile that melted hearts out and a personality to match. Admittedly he was a catch but Morgan didn't know him that well plus he was just as busy as she was.

"Yeah just…stress you know?" Morgan offered, not having the energy to think up a better excuse.

"Yeah I hear ya." The 26 year old chuckled. "They're killing us right now…some of our assistants have been dropping out sick. Something about stomach flu…?" He offered. Morgan gave a shrug, not thinking much of it before….

"You're working on classified projects aren't you?" She asked then as she looked at him.

"I am." He grinned proudly. Their conversation stopped for a moment then as everyone rushed out of the elevator. Morgan and Eric made sure to stick together though so their conversation could continue. "On the 27th floor actually." He finished then, boasting a little as well. The higher up in the building you were the higher up you were so Morgan had to admit she was impressed.

"I never knew that…" She grinned then, giving him a playful shove. Okay so maybe she was going to try out those 'feminine good looks'…. Eric gave a laugh then and looked down shyly before nodding.

"I do…"

"Well hey…um…" Morgan and Eric both paused in the hall, Eric focusing on Morgan completely. She let her hand run through her hair, playing with it some before she shifted all her weight onto one leg so the left side of her hip popped up a little. "You said your assistants were dropping out sick….maybe I could come up and help you?" She offered then, looking up through her lashes some. Would it be too much? Would it make it a little too obvious? Or would she just look like an idiot?

"Eerrr…." Eric seemed a bit dazed though, his cheeks even a little pink. "I don't see…why not…" He grinned some then before he had to cough and looked away for a moment.

"Really! That would be really amazing Eric. Just…tell me what to do and I'll help whenever I can…" She assured then. "Oh but um….our project supervisor has…kinda had a stick up her ass the last few months." She growled before continuing. "Do you think you could submit whatever form it is that gives me permission to help?"

"Oh yeah sure. I'll write it up when I get to my station." Eric assured her. "I can send someone down to escort you officially as well if you want."

"Would you? That would be fantastic." Morgan grinned, almost afraid to get excited about this. It was actually working!

"Not a problem." Eric would look around before checking his watch. "Well I better get up there. I'll see you in a little bit?"

"You will." Morgan smiled, giving him a small wave then as he started away. Eric would smile as he continued to watch her and not where he was going. Morgan didn't realize where he was going either until it was too late, the women about to shout out but…well the man ran right into a pillar. His face flushed red as he recovered and Morgan covered her laugh with a hand. He glanced back and gave a weak cough before hurrying off. Admittedly it'd been rather cute and in addition Morgan was able to walk away with a bit of a self esteem boost.

* * *

What had started out as a rough, unsettling day had turned into a bright but nervous one. Working with Eric had been both fun and a bit refreshing for Morgan. Her enthusiasm for her projects was rekindled and her motivation to help Alex had been refreshed as well. In addition, she had managed to get onto the network and hack the 'Classifieds system' so all the camera information was on a flash drive in her pocket. While Morgan felt like she was becoming a bit of a traitor those thoughts didn't really come crashing down until she was at the door to her apartment. Eric had been so nice and trusting without any hesitation. Now she was about to hand over some crucial information to a man who she was still questioning the sanity of. She was still conflicted as she walked in the door, on autopilot as she put her light jacket on the coat rack and moved into the living room. As always he was there, turning and facing her as she came in to read her emotions. She must have looked grave because his face went from optimistic to grave.

"Did you not manage it?" He asked, almost sounding careful about his words. His voice snapped Morgan from her thoughts, the women freezing to look at him.

"Huh? Oh, no I got the information we need." She shrugged before fishing out the flash drive. She gave it a wave before tossing it to him.

"Then why look so glum?" He asked, looking it over before glancing back to her.

"I don't mean to be." She sighed, rubbing her face some as she moved to the kitchen and he to her computer.

"You look like someone died…" He snorted.

"Et Tu Brute…" She mumbled, not sure he could hear her from the kitchen. She didn't seem to care, coming out with a drink as she watched him sort through the data she had collected. She let the man go through the files, watching as he read through things and actually did some work. Heck, half of the information she had grabbed she didn't even understand so she was happy he seemed to be getting something from it.

"Do you have any black cloths?" He asked as he looked back at her.

"A few…want to be more specific?" She asked. With an eye roll he continued.

"We're breaking into a building Morgan. What do YOU think you should wear?" He asked as he let her decide for herself. She nodded then, wondering if she needed a ski mask….would it be that cliché? Then she realized something.

"Wait…when are we breaking in?" She asked, her heart starting to pick up the pace.

"Tonight."

"TONIGHT!" She yelped, almost dropping her drink.

"Yes tonight. Why should we wait?" He asked, not seeming to see the big deal.

"But….that's…."  
"Tonight?"  
"That's tonight!" She whined. This man was going to single handled raise her blood pressure.

"Morgan would you rather us wait and have this sitting on your mind for days and then, by the time we actually go to break in you're a jittering mess?" He sighed as he gave her a hard look.

"I suppose it has to be like tearing off a Band-Aid huh?" She signed as she moved to sit at the dining room table. She put her drink down and her head soon followed it as it hit the table with a 'thud'.

"So returning to my previous question….Black cloths?"

"Yes I have them…I probably have a sweater up there and I have some black jeans…" She nodded. "What about masks?" She asked.

"I'll have the cameras down by then, you just need camouflage." He assured before he moved to get the flash drive off the computer. "I have to ask…" He began, getting her to lift her head from the table. "What did you do to get this?" He asked as he turned the drive in his fingers.

"Abused a friendship." She groaned before getting up again. "I'm going to go find those cloths and then taking a very long nap….wake me up when it's time to break the law." She muttered as she downed the rest of her drink.

"You know…most people get a little more excited about breaking and entering than you are."

"Well excuse me. Let's throw a party later shall we?" She snorted, glaring some as he laughed and moved back to the couch. She was going right to bed once she dug out those cloths…

Some hours later she found herself dressed in back and heading back to work. It was ten at night which she thought was a horrible time to head out but…there was no arguing with Alex.

"You know….I just realized oh wise one…" She growled unhappily. "We still don't have a way to get IN the building." Alex was starting to think that Morgan taking naps was doing more harm than good. She had been nothing but a nag since they left her house. That was only made worse when he made her buy a second flash drive and didn't tell her why they needed it. They already had the one from before…why did they need two!

"Just leave that up to me okay?" He sighed as he continued to walk down the street, by the cover of the shadows. "Remind me….does Mr. D have cameras in his office?"

"Pft…of course he does. They all face his desk. Why?"

"And where are the windows?" Morgan glared as he ignored her questions.

"They are on the right side of his office. They pretty much make up the right wall." She answered before yawning. Why couldn't she just go back to sleep! Alex nodded then, continuing to walk with her and refusing to talk with her until they reached the shadow of the building. He took a moment to stop, eyes looking up to the glowing 'Genetek' on the side of the building. It wasn't even half the size of the old one in New York but….it still brought back some strange feeling of dread and hatred.

"So….what is your brilliant plan?" Morgan's bitchy tone snapped him out of his nostalgia and he smirked. He was about to shut that mouth of hers up REAL fast. He sighed, moving over then and putting his back to her.

"Get on." He reasoned, gesturing to his back. She paused, looking at him critically then burst out laughing.

"You're kidding right? You're going to give me a piggy back ride?" She snickered.

"Morgan…" He growled, starting to get pissed off.

"I mean I half expected you to grow wings or throw me or something but REALLY!"

"I'm still tempted to do that second one." He snapped as he turned on her. "Now get the fuck ON!" He snarled. As tempting as it was to make a 'that's what she said' joke Morgan was scared enough to do as he said. She nodded, waiting as he turned back around before giving a little hop and climbing onto his back. She let her arms go hesitantly around his neck while he looped his arms to hold her knees. "Hold on and don't scream." He reasoned as he looked at the five story apartment to their right.

"Why would I scr-" Morgan snapped her mouth shut tight when he leap, not expecting that at ALL. He soared, jumping straight up into the air and landing with a light thud on the roof of the apartments. When they landed and he started to walk Morgan let out a little, fearful whimper. Alex chuckled a bit at that, turning his head some to try and look at her. It was then he realized that she had her face buried into the neck of his jacket.

"What was that?"

"D-did….did I ever m-mention I have a f-fear of falling?" she whimpered as she dared to peak out.

"I think you failed to mention it. Good to know though." He smirked as he moved to the edge of the building closest to Genetek.

"Oh…oh god…you…you aren't going to _jump_ all the way up there are you?" She asked as she looked up. Far, far away she could see Mr. D's office window and, like usual, it was wide open.

"No, of course not." Alex snorted.

"Thank god…"

"We're jumping about half of the way and then I'm running up the building."

"You're WHAT!" She yelped before she was back to hiding and trying not to scream. He had jumped again, soaring over the security fence and search lights around the border of the building. He landed about ten feet up on the building before he dug his feet into the glass and took off running. Morgan had a brief moment of horror, hearing the glass cracking and chipping as they ran. The building was going to be marked up….would someone notice? Then again who in their right mind would look at the cracks and think 'Someone ran up this building!' Soon enough though she was just trying not to cry out, arms like a vice around his neck as they rose higher and higher…and her heart raced faster and faster… As bad as it was it ended quicker than she thought, the pair diving into that open window before landing crouched inside. Alex moved fast, towards the wall under the cameras. He had been careful too, diving into the office at just the right angle to avoid the cameras gaze. He took a moment then, checking his watch while waiting for Morgan to stop shaking. Five minutes ticked away and by then Morgan had slipped off his back to sit on the floor and to star at the wall.

"Camera's are…." He waited until his watch gave a beep. "Off. Come'on we need to move." Morgan didn't even bother to argue with him, accepting his hand up before trying to get her mind on track. "Where is the equipment you want to use?" He asked her then.

"Um….28th floor…we need to go down 2 floors." She explained with a shaky voice.

"Alright just…let me do one thing." He reasoned as he moved over to the receptionist desk. He didn't do much but turn on the computer and plug in the flash drive. Again, Morgan didn't ask and simply watched. He came back over soon enough, touching her arm to get her to move as they started towards the stairs. It was only two stories after all. The walk down was easy, Morgan starting to come around again as they neared where they needed to go. Once they were on their way and nearing the room she did have to ask.

"What did you do?"

"Put the camera's on a delay." He explained simply. "You'll have 30 minutes instead of 15." That was more than enough. With a nod Morgan continued to walk, reading room numbers before…

"Here we are." She opened the door, noting that all the door locks were off too. He had…done more than delay the camera's…

She moved around the room, turning on dim, low lights before starting to set things up and turn on machines.

"Alright so….what I'm going to do is actually abstract some of your DNA. But the only way is to use a live…living sample…" She moved over to a machine that looked like a cross between a 13th century torture device and a needle-phobic's worse nightmare. Alex even paused when he saw it before he sighed and nodded.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Just….sit and let this thing work." She reasoned as she went to get a chair. "It can take DNA out of any place but…maybe your arm will be best?" She offered as she brought him the chair. He nodded, rolling up his sleeve before moving to sit down. "Do you think I'll need to strap your arm down?" She asked when she noticed some sitting to the side.

"I'm not sure…will it be that bad?" He asked.

"Well…let's just say when they take samples with this…whatever they're sampling is normally dead."

"I thought you said it only worked with living samples."

"I did. But they're non-frozen, recently deceased samples…normally they kill them in the lab moments before." She explained. He gave a nod at that, thinking some before agreeing to be strapped down. Admittedly he didn't like being restrained but….for this he thought it might be a good idea. Once he was set up Morgan moved back to the computer and started to do what she needed to. She set up the program, giving it all the instructions she needed to as well as putting in that extra flash drive. Perhaps he did know what he was doing earlier when he made her get it.

"Alright…ready?" She asked as she moved the mouse over the 'Begin Procedure' button. Alex gave a stiff nod, looking away from the machine then and balling his fist. Morgan held her breath then before hitting the button and turning to watch. The machine had an arm on it like a robot only the hand was replaced by a needle that was far too long. With a click it spun around, paused then slowly began to lower towards Alex's arm. He seemed to handle it well, the needle plunging into his arm about two inches before stopping. He tensed up and his brows knitted together but other than that he didn't speak up. The machine started to hum them, the computer beeping and clicking as data flashed and covered the screen. Morgan beamed as she turned and saw it. It flashed on screen before zipping away, everything going right onto the flash drive she had plugged in. However after a moment something….unexpected happened. All the data was going onto the drive but something else popped up on screen. She tilted her head, moving the mouse to click it and open it up.

Something totally new opened on the screen, a dark grey menu screen with the slightly faded word 'BlackWatch' in the background. She was curious, reading over the four options on the left hand side of the window. Priority, Blacklight, Hope and Zeus were the options and when she clicked Priority the computer gave an angry little beep before flashing 'classified'.

"Well if it was classified then why did you even open…" She grumbled before clicking Blacklight. This time it worked, a least a dozen newspaper articles flashing up on the screen. Immediately Morgan was lost, not understanding why Genetek had anything in their system about New York. Sure they were helping out there but….why did they have these old articles. Under closer inspection she noticed that in each article there were sentences and even words highlighted. This….this didn't make sense. Clicking through the articles she closed them one at a time and soon moved to open another option. Hope seemed a little out of place so she moved the mouse over 'Zeus'.

"Morgan." The desperation in Alex's voice startled her more than anything, the women looking over and gasping.

"Oh shit."

The machine was shuddering and shooting bolts of electricity from the needle. It made sense though, Morgan able to see through the chaos that those tendrils of Alex's were climbing all over the machine. "Make it stop!" She yelped as she rushed over before yelping and backing up as it sparked.

"I'm trying!" Alex snapped, struggling as he rushed to get the straps undone. The problem was there was no way of getting this to stop without breaking the machine. "Turn it off!" He roared, Morgan rushing to turn off the program. It shut down on the computer but…moments later a warning flashed on screen.

'Warning. Unable to establish connection. Error 1283b'

"Piece of Shit! OFF!" Morgan roared before turning back around as Alex started to shout. He was in pain…she could hear it now and he couldn't ignore it. She watched as the tendrils started to pry deep into the machine, pulling off layers of metal and plastic. She covered her eyes some, watching as Alex's arm started to shift and change at a disturbing and rapid pace. The whip mutation, to the claws, to the soldiers arm to his again. She was honestly scared that she had broken him but soon…it was all over. His arm morphed again, this time into the long deadly blade. The machine fell apart, the needle snapping off in his arm before dissolving away as he stood and glared at the device. It was smoking and in pieces, still crackling a little from time to time. Morgan uncovered her eyes then and felt her heart starting to speed up.

"Now what do we do?"


	8. Survey Says

**Hey all you lovely readers o'mine! Another lovely chapter for you! It's not as long as the last but still rather important. Hopefully you guys are still enjoying the story ^_^ I'll be working on more chapters soon and hopefully have them up just as speedily as this one was.**

**Love as always,  
**

**~Primal  
**

* * *

"Oh shit, ooohhh shit! You BROKE it!" Morgan yelped as she rushed over and looked at the crumbling machine.  
"It went insane! It HURT me." Alex growled as he demorphed his arm. He took a moment to flex and bend it, running this other hand over it to make sure everything was okay. He rolled his sleeve down as he watched Morgan continue to panic.  
"How are we going to cover this up! Alex it…it's ruined! Oh sshhhiittt." She whimpered as he looked it over. There was no way to fix it in such sort time…there was no way…  
"You'll be fine…they'll blame it on burglars…" He reasoned as he started to look around the room.  
"Why the hell would they do that?" She asked before her face grew pale. "ALEX!" His arm morphed into the whip, snapping around the room as he wrecked more equipment. Morgan dropped to the ground and crawled away under the desk where she had been working. She was right beside the computer tower so she just yanked the flash drive out and pocketed it. She hid for the next three minutes as Alex tore through the room, making it look like someone had been looking for something. He tore some components out of some machines, while others he just tore open to make it look like someone had searched in vain. He managed to pocket a few small chips when the room suddenly began to be bathed in red light. It came on, then off…on and then off. Before Morgan could ask it was followed by a loud alarm siren that made the remaining color in her face drain. This was it….she was dead. She was going to jail and/or going to die. Alex seemed a bit startled too, the man cursing as he checked his watch then rushed over to Morgan.

"Come'on. We have to go." He hissed as he yanked her out from under the desk and onto his back. She didn't have the air to make a snappy comment, the girl clinging to his back as the walls started to blur past them. They made it back up to Mr. D's office easy enough but when Morgan realized they were headed for those windows…  
"Oh dear god…" She cried softly. Alex leapt from that window, soaring towards the apartments as the ground started to rush up at them. Morgan almost threw up. Her teeth were biting so hard on her lip that blood started to drip. This was like a nightmare…dropping 30 feet to their deaths. However they only dropped about ten feet before….Morgan noticed their decent slowing. She dared to peek out; realizing that she and Alex were stretched out and….they were… flying! No…no the ground was still coming up just…slower. She felt the bile in her throat dye back down when it settled in but she still hide in his neck. As they glided down and landed on the ceiling she could feel her heart going back into her chest from her throat. Alex was looking back though, watching as guards swarmed all over the building and started going in. He just hoped they bought it, a little worried now since he saw what he swore were Blackwatch troops talking to the regular soldiers.  
"A-alex…" Morgan sounded like a child. "Can we p-please go home…?" She asked softly, head not moving off his back. He just gave a nod, his arms shifting under her legs some more to pull her up on his back more. That was right…she feared falling…opps. Without a word he took them home. He dropped back onto the side walk after a few blocks and carried her right in the front door. It was dark inside but he could see the way up to her room. He continued to carry her, moving right up to her room before heading to her bed and shifting to drop her on the edge. He let go but she didn't budge; the man sighing heavily.

"Morgan…you're home. Let go." He said, struggling to sound…concerned. He was…well, sorta…but his voice typically had the same tone no matter what emotion he was feeling.  
"Oh…." Her arms dropped away like limp noodles which allowed him to turn and get a look at her as she plopped on her bed. By the light of the digital clock she looked as white as a ghost and her eyes seemed to shake a little with her body.  
"Morgan….hey. Look." He sighed, dropping down a little to look her in the eye. "You're home….you're in your room…just…try and get some sleep. It will be alright okay?" He reasoned as he offered her a painfully forced smile. She made her eyes focus on him then, or at least on that smile.  
"You look like your in pain….stop it. It's creepy." She muttered as her shaking calmed some. Now that…that actually got a genuine, however short, smile from him.  
"Go to sleep." He reasoned again, moving away then as he kept an eye on her. She nodded stiffly, moving slowly then to push the covers down some. Alex took another look at the clock, sighing at the bright 1:45 shining there. Where had that time gone? They had left at 10…. Moving out of the room he tried to figure out what he would do to try and solve the small mess at hand…those camera's had come back on….

* * *

The following morning Morgan rose to a message on her answering machine. It was from work, telling her there had been a break in and that they would be closed for a few days in order for a FULL investigation to be conducted. While it made her uneasy she erased the message and took it as an added vacation. In an attempt to stay calm she took a long, soothing shower before heading down to face the day. Like clockwork Alex was sitting and watching TV, the news going on and on about the break in.  
"Officials now suspect that the cause for the break in was a valuable type of microchip that Genetek uses in most of their equipment. Apparently when stolen in large quantities the gold inside them can be sold for a high profit. However officials are unsure of how many chips have been stolen…"  
"So that's what you did?" Morgan asked as she came into the living room. Alex looked over and nodded. "I only got a few though..." He sighed, looking to the pile of chips on the coffee table in front of him.  
"You should get rid of them…" Morgan noted, moving into the kitchen to try and find something to drink and maybe eat.  
"I plan to." He assured her before turning to watch her. She could hear the volume drop as she started making coffee and suspected he was about to ask her for something….  
"So…." She was right. "We have all the information now right…?" He asked.  
"Yes."  
"So….are you going to start working on going through it…?" She hadn't been downstairs five minutes…  
"Yes." She groaned before letting her head drop. "Am I allowed to wake up first?" He didn't answer that, Morgan feeling a spark of anger take over then. That son of a bitch…. Now she WANTED to go slow.

She did too, staying in the kitchen as she listened to the coffee machine work. She decided on some toast too, getting that all set up while setting out some jellies and jams. She wasn't going to offer anything to him….the damn slave driver… Fifteen minutes later she was still in there, contently munching on toast and sipping her coffee. Now this…this was nice. How sad was that? A simple coffee and toast was making her so happy.  
"Are you still alive out there?" His voice shattered her happy place. Groaning she threw the crust of the toast down on the plate, washed her hands and took the coffee out with her.  
"You know….after all those surprises you pulled last night I honestly think you could do this yourself…" She pointed out as she took a seat at her desk. Alex just snorted at that before muttering something that Morgan couldn't catch. She shook her head then and took her time as she plugged in the flash drive from the night before. It took a few minutes for her computer to go through it all but once it had been sorted she started reading. Some of the information was so detailed she didn't need it at the moment and clicked it away but after awhile…she started to realize something awful. The data it….it wasn't… Dread iced over her stomach when she felt Alex's shadow fall over her and she stopped what she was doing.  
"You're quiet…" He noted as he peeked down at her. She gave a stiff nod and he raised an eye. "Any reason why?" He asked.  
"I….um…" How did she put this… "Alex I….I don't think…anything I was planning is going to work…" She said softly. The information it…it contradicted all her ideas, her theories…  
"What?" His tone reminded her of the one he had when he first came there. Dark and threatening he did not sound happy.  
"I….I don't think I can fix you…" She quickly corrected herself. "A-at least the way I was planning before…" She dared to peek around then, looking at him and flinching. Tendrils were snapping around his form and his eyes seemed to glow a faint fiery orange.  
She was dead…

"What do you MEAN you can't FIX THIS!" He roared as he snapped away and started to pace.  
"I…Alex I just…" She looked from him, to the computer and then back again. "See...I…I thought that whatever it was you had…well…it was what got New York and that the radiation from that blast just…messed it up." She began to explain in a rush. "I thought it was just using you as a host. It should have killed you but for whatever reason it was flawed and not working. I was planning to make an anti-body or something similar to it that would target the virus but…this…this isn't telling me that's the case at all." She skimmed some more of the data. "This…this is suggesting that the virus is actually-"  
"Just SHUT UP!" Alex roared then, arms throwing one of the dining room chairs aside. Morgan shut up and froze but continued to watch in horror as he started to wreak the living room. "You have kept me here for months…MONTHS and you've accomplished nothing!" The table cracked as his whip fist slammed across it. It was a miracle it didn't shatter.  
"I…I'm sorry…" Morgan whispered softly, voice shrinking considerably. "I...with this I can start again. I can figure something out…" She offered as she looked away and then back. However as she looked back…she regretted it. A scream choked in her throat as that arm shot out, the claws around the end snapping around her neck before pulling her across the room. She slammed into him, choking and gasping for air as tears leaked from her eyes.  
"You are just about completely worthless…" Alex hissed as his eyes bore into her own.  
"A-alex….I…I'm sorry!" Morgan choked. "Please! Please I can figure this out…" She knew more now, she knew where to start over to how to approach it now. "Please…" She begged weakly, tears continuing to leak as her hands grasp the 'wrist' that held the claws. They just stared at each other then, not speaking for a few tense seconds before he tossed her like a doll to the floor. She landed and started to cough, hands going to her throat as she looked back at him. Wordlessly he turned and left. He slammed the door so hard when he left that it shook some of the picture frames on the wall. She remained on the floor for some time, crying softly and holding her throat. He….he had almost killed her…. Minutes passed and once she had her composure again she rose to her feet and hurried to get on the phone. She knew it was stupid, dumb and probably wouldn't work but she didn't know what else to do. She dialed in a number, listened to it ring before someone answered. She only had to really say one thing…  
"Cadence?"  
"Oh my god Morgan what's wrong!"

The women who had treated her like a stranger for the last few months melted into her friend once more. Ten minutes later she was at the door, knocked and then let herself in. Seeing her again brought Morgan back to tears, just soo happy to see a friendly face again.  
"Oh my GOD! What happened to you! You're all bruised…" Cadence gasped as she lightly touched Morgan's neck.  
"I….I really can't say…" Morgan smiled weakly as Cadence helped her over to sit on the couch.  
"Did someone break in? The place looks awful Morgan…" She asked as she noted the chairs and table.  
"No."  
"Morgan what HAPPENED?" Cadence demanded as she looked at her. She fought with herself, knowing she couldn't tell her completely what was going on…  
"It's…kinda a long story Cadence." She sighed weakly before coughing lightly.  
"Alright well…I have time. Can I get you something? Maybe ice?" She asked. Morgan nodded and told her there were some packs in the freezer. Cadence found one easily enough, breaking it up and returning to press it to her neck softly.  
"Alright…talk." She reasoned, watching as Morgan got comfy on the couch. She began to retell her story, being as vague as possible though. She didn't talk about powers, New York or anything related to it. At first Cadence gave her a hard time about it, telling her she couldn't skip on details but Morgan let her know it was either a vague story or nothing at all. She shut up after that and let her continue. It was during this time that Alex actually came back. He knew Cadence was there though and so he came in from the second floor. He used Morgan's bedroom window and stayed at the top of the stairs to listen.  
"Wait, wait….Morgan, he's been…living here? With you?" Cadence asked. She rarely interrupted but she absolutely had to now.  
"Well…yes… Why do you sound shocked?" Morgan asked as she shifted her ice. Cadence snorted and then smiled.  
"Just because…well…every time I've been around and you've had a man living with you…" She giggled madly.  
"Spit it out!" Morgan laughed.  
"Well…you typically can only live with a man if you're sleeping with him…"  
"CADENCE!" Morgan gasped as she swung her arm around and hit her. "That is NOT true!"  
"Well every time I've been here and there is a dude living with you…"  
"You've only known me for 5 years!" Morgan reasoned before groaning and rolling her eyes. "You're a horrible friend." Cadence just enjoyed laughing and watching Morgan's face. When she finally calmed down she did remember something…  
"You know…" Cadence began slowly. "I….haven't been the best friend to you the last few months…and I'm really, REALLY sorry Morgan." She said softly. "I just….the promotion…I've been so stressed out. Those guys…those gas mask guys you saw that day? The watch everything I do. It freaks me out…" She even shuddered some before looking at Morgan. She was smiling now, feeling so much better that everything was being settled. At least…if she did die, she would die knowing her friend cared again.  
"It's okay Cadence. I knew it had to be stressful but I didn't know how badly." She confessed. She jumped a little then when Cadence lunged at her, attacking her in a hug.  
"You're the best ever Morgan!" She hummed happily.  
"Iii wouldn't say that." Morgan laughed. They hugged for a short time before settling back in the couch again. "But Morgan…this guy…" Cadence began again after awhile. "You can't…he can't hurt you like this. You're trying to help him…and you're not a mind reader. You can't just look at someone and know what's wrong." Morgan was nodding to agree. "It takes time, effort, patience…"  
"I don't think he knows the meaning of those three words." Morgan snorted as she shifted the ice again. "Does it look that bad?" She asked as she moved it completely.  
"Not so much now…" Cadence smiled as Morgan put the ice back. "But….what are you going to do?" She asked.  
"Well….I think I'll keep working. What else is there?" Morgan laughed softly. "Now that we got the tests done that we did…I may be able to make some real progress."  
"Hell if I was you I'd kick him out of the house. Not after that shit." Cadence snorted. Morgan had to fight a twisted little laugh at the words. Like she could kick him out….  
"I'll see what I can do." Morgan reasoned before smiling at Cadence some.  
"But…since I'm here…"  
"Oh god…"  
"You want to have a girl's day!"

Alex had listened to the entire conversation and had to admit he was shocked. He had…he had actually hurt her and she wasn't calling in the army. She could, she had to know she could and completely ruin what was left of his life but…she wasn't. She actually sounded like she wanted to keep working and she wasn't just saying it to pacify Cadence. However when the girl squealed about having a girls day he knew it was his cue to leave. More importantly he felt a need to get some more air and think. Out the window and down to the streets he went, hood up like normal as he walked and just….thought.

It all wasn't really her fault. Not entirely. He knew….he knew a lot about his condition but had decided not to tell her. After all the less she knew about what had happened the better right? He sighed, shaking his head some before looking up and around the streets. People were staring at him, whispering and when he made eye contact they all looked down and scurried away. With a frown he turned down an alley, deciding to avoid what few people there were crowding the street. He couldn't stand it…people looking at him like that. It was like they knew…without the slightest clue what he was… He snarled and planted a strong kick into a small trash can, watching as it crunched in around his foot. He sighed, shaking it free and watching it fall and roll some feet away.  
He continued his walk then, still thinking and pushing all the cluttered voices back. He hadn't meant to hurt her like that…truly he hadn't. He just….he didn't know what had happened. Well he did but it was hard to admit it.

There was a monster on in the inside. It was something that the virus was brewing up and growing inside both his mind and body. It snapped out at times and had been there when he had first found Morgan. But now, after all these months, it had gone away for the most part and he wasn't sure why. Was it because he felt somewhat comfortable in her house? Around her? He hadn't been this open since he had been with Dana…it almost felt inhuman. He laughed at the irony of that thought, that being open and being HUMAN felt INHUMAN.

"God I'm fucked up." He laughed as he let a hand go to his head. He pushed his hair back some under the hood, sighing some and stopping then as he came out of the alley and faced the street again. He sighed and debated going to the roof tops or to just go back. Going on felt childish but going back made his stomach twist in a strange way. He didn't like it. He felt like he didn't have anywhere to go and that made him feel the most unsettled. Sighing he decided to do something that didn't fit either option; he was going to snoop around Gentek again….

By the late evening Cadence was heading out. Morgan's neck was only a little spotty but sore. It looked bad but she had a feeling that if she kept the ice on it that it would heal up over the next few days. Once Cadence was gone she moved back to the computer, sighing some as she started to pull up models and simulators to start running all the new data in. Having just eaten her mind was revving to go and focus on something new. She was actually working hard on forgetting what had happened with her and Alex. However whether it was because it scared her too much to think about or if it was because she just didn't want to put a kink in their friendship was unclear to even her.

She worked for what seemed like a few hours but she didn't actually pay attention to the time to know for sure. She was only jarred out of her trace of sorts when she heard the front door open and close. The noise made her freeze, fingers still posed over the keyboard as she listened and waited nervously. Step by step he moved closer; step by step her heart escalated in pace. His steps stopped in the doorway to the living room, the air thickening with nervousness. After awhile she just started to type again, trying to pretend her heart wasn't in her throat. Maybe if she looked busy he wouldn't hurt her again…  
"I um…" Alex began, his voice sounding off. It was off in a new way though, the emotion in his tone unknown to her. "I….I took a walk and just…." He was struggling to find the right words. "I wanted to apologize for what…happened earlier. It wasn't right of me…I shouldn't have hurt you like I did…are you okay?" He asked. She only gave a stiff nod but that was mainly because her throat felt sealed up with glue. "Good…" He sounded off then, not sure why she wasn't talking and having a feeling it wasn't a good sign. However rather than face the problem and bring it up he did what he normally did. He went to the couch, sat down and turned on the TV. The soft noise in the back allowed a slight rhythm to return to the house. It quickly took the edge out of the air and allowed Morgan to work another hour before she stopped. She saved everything, turned off the screen and stood. She took a few seconds to stretch before moving to the kitchen. She wanted to get an ice pack to sleep on before heading up. However when she came back out, sights set on her room…she froze. Alex was there, RIGHT there looming in the doorway and blocking her path. He had dropped his hood though, shaggy brown hair hanging in his face and his eyes locked on her. It has scared her so badly she had dropped her ice and she had yet to pick it up since her eyes were locked uncomfortably with his. He had noticed though and when she didn't go for it he sighed and leaned down. He picked it up with a sigh and offered it back to her.  
"I think you dropped this…" He mused, offering her another one of those awkward forced smiles. She nodded, taking it back slowly before freezing again. He was looking at her neck and before she could explain he was raising a hand. He sighed, moving some of her hair to get an eye on the bruising. He had hurt her…he had left a mark… He frowned, moving his hand more to brush a finger over the black.  
"Does it hurt?" He asked. She shook her head no but continued to watch him. He wasn't moving his hand away and she couldn't tell if it was the fact he was so close or that he was touching her that was making her so uncomfortable. Her heart was racing and that was the only thing she was sure about.

"Morgan I really am sorry…truly…" He sighed as his hand dropped away. Morgan nodded, putting the ice over where his fingers had been.  
"I know…" She managed to choke out. "I'm going to go to bed now though…" She added hoping he would move. He did with a nod and moved to give her a clear path.  
"Night." He managed to sigh as she headed towards the stairs. She said it back but she had a feeling that she was the only one that heard it…..


	9. Rewind and Try Again

**Who's on a roll!  
Primal's on a roll!  
:D**

**As always, love to my readers.  
Expect the next chapter soon, I'm writing like made because the plot is about to really pick up.  
; D  
**

* * *

The few days that Morgan was given off because of the 'break in' flew by faster than she thought possible. Admittedly she did achieve a lot of progress on Alex's condition thanks to the new data and models. However there was still something missing from it all, something that was holding Morgan back from finding the answer they both wanted and needed. It was frustrating but Morgan didn't have time to pout at the computer and hope it would come to her. With her holiday up she had to face the fact that she would have to return to work, much to her dismay. For two days she had been watching on TV as the building was swept by investigators and the men in the gas masks. While they had been creepy on their own, the fact that Alex seemed fearful of them only made it worse. Why would he have a reason to fear anyone!

Despite all these things she had no choice but to grin and bear it. Luckily the bruising around her neck was pretty much gone and unless you knew where to look you wouldn't see anything. Relations between her and Alex had improved as well. Things were going back to normal and she was actually shocked to realize that Alex was making an effort to be nice to her. This showed particularly well that morning when she was faced with going back to work.  
"Just breathe and relax. They have no reason to suspect you." He sighed as he watched her shake as she drank some coffee.  
"Says you…what if they find prints? What if someone saw us?" She chattered before slowly raising the cup to her lips. She hadn't slept that well the night before.  
"It will be fine Morgan. Stop worrying." He insisted as he got up and moved over to look at her face to face. "If things don't seem right then come back here. Tell them something came up." Morgan snorted and looked away for a moment.  
"Like what? I got sick? I don't have anymore sick days." She growled as he smirked a little. Hey he thought it was funny at this point.  
"Tell them someone in your family passed away and you got the call on your way in."  
"Alex that's not only horrible but it is very bad karma." She scolded before setting the cup down. "Alright well…I might as well just go in…" She sighed. He gave a nod and actually walked her to the door.  
"You'll be fine...you'll see." He assured before putting a hand on her shoulder. She flinched when she caught the movement though, both of them freezing then. There was a moment then were they both just stood there and realized that perhaps they weren't as fixed as they thought they were. Alex sighed, moving his hand the rest of the way to put it on her shoulder and give it a small squeeze. "Stay safe." He muttered before turning to leave her. She nodded, sighing then before heading out.

It was amazing how long it had been since he had first shown up in her house. When Alex had arrived there had been ice and snow outside her house and now? All the trees were lush and green again, birds were singing and people were walking around in shorts and V necks. Morgan continued to note peoples clothes on the way in and did so long enough that she almost ran into someone.  
"Crap! Sorry!" She gasped, laughing as she almost completely knocked them over.  
"It's quiet alright." The man laughed, turning then to look at her. "Oh Morgan! Hey." It was Eric. Seeing him made a stab of guilt flare in her stomach; the voice in the back of her head reminding her that abusing his friendliness had allowed the break in to happen.  
"Hey Eric." She smiled back, trying to seem like her normal self. It was becoming hard though. She knew she had to look as guilty as she felt…  
"Can you believe what happened? The break in and all?" He hummed as he started to walk with her.  
"No it was….pretty wild." Morgan laughed softly as she took to staring at the ground.  
"And on the 28th floor! Thank goodness it wasn't in my sector, I don't know what I would have done if that had been my lab…" He glanced to her. "Can you imagine?"  
"Hmmm? Oh gosh no…" She rushed to say before biting her lip. She winced some, having forgotten it was sore. She had bite through it the night of the break in after all… "So uh….do they know how much damage was done?" She asked as lightly as she could.  
"Oh it was a total loss, a couple million at least." Eric said confidently. "We all may be affected, our projects that is." He added.  
"Why is that?" Morgan asked; too focused on the upcoming building to think it through. She was seeing a line of people outside the gates, not sure why everyone appeared held up.  
"Well the RX -120 was the biggest lost. That thing was apparently wrecked from the inside out." Eric frowned. That had been the machine Alex's tendrils had attacked, the extractor…  
"Well shit." Morgan snorted, just then realizing how many departments that would effect. Just about everyone used that thing once a week at the least. Now what would they do? "Any idea on if we'll get another one?" She asked, realizing it was stupid that the company had only ever bought one.  
"No idea. The company makes them but they're still really expensive to produce from what I've heard. The weird thing is those chips the thief was after aren't used in those…so I wonder why he trashed it…" Morgan felt her heart leap into her throat. Shit, shit, SHIT.  
"Well um, maybe he didn't know which machines had them." She offered as they stopped in line.  
"Morgan those chips are highly secret, only the people who make those machines normally know where they are in the machine and which have them. If they knew enough to get them out they should have known which machines had them and which didn't. It doesn't add up…" He sighed.  
"You sure know a lot about them." She pointed out then, trying to turn it on him some. Eric looked at her in shock and held up his hands.  
"Hey, I didn't do it. We're all suspects really. I mean…you knew about the chips. We all do. We all had to be trained to use those machines so everyone here could have been capable of tearing them open." He smirked some then and elbowed her lightly. "So don't go blaming me Miss Morgan." He teased as she laughed and flushed some.  
"Sorry. I couldn't resist." She admitted before focusing ahead.

Everyone was passing by some odd machine that beeped on occasion. It looked like a big metal tub covered in lights and buttons with a giant tuning fork on top. Some people were being pulled aside by the gasmask men in addition and it appeared to be at random. She passed a few of these people after a moment and both she and Eric couldn't help but eavesdrop as the men in masks questioned them.  
"Where were you between 2200 and 0100 the night of the incident?" The mask breathed. The woman he was interviewing was someone Morgan recognized. It was someone from Eric's floor and she looked pissed.  
"I went to a movie and then went home! Now would you PLEASE let me go? I have a lot of work to do!" She huffed.  
"Ma'am do you have anyone who can prove this?" He sighed as he wrote on a pad of paper.  
"Yes I do! Ug you military ass holes…" She continued to ramble on, Morgan shivering some and actually tuning into Eric some. God they creeped her out…those masks…  
"You okay?"Eric asked as he let his arm go around her casually.  
"Yeah I just….they creep me out…" She sighed as he nodded.  
"Yeah, they are pretty spooky. I have to wonder why they wear those things…" He muttered as he glared a few of the men down. As they got closer to the giant machine Morgan started to get a bad feeling about something. They were looking for something and if Alex was scared of them…could they be looking for him? She looked at herself then, realizing that he had been close to her for months, close to her that morning…hell his hand had been on her clothing! Could…that machine…?

She froze as Eric continued forward a few steps before he realized she wasn't with him. He turned and frowned.  
"Are you okay?" He asked, coming back close and looking at her. "Morgan you don't look so well…you're pale." He added as his voice became worried.  
"I erm….uh…" She needed to get out of here! This was not SAFE! Before she could make a run for it however, the universe granted her a bit of rare luck. Her feet were starting to move backwards, trying to turn her so she could run but then she watched it happen. A man came out to see how things were going. He had to be a sergeant or some higher up in the military by his looks and he was drinking a large thermos of what she assumed to be coffee.  
"How is it going boys?" He asked the group of men by the machine. Morgan noticed then that they all had guns, large AK's by the looks of them. They all saluted the man then before one spoke up.  
"Excellent sir. No signs yet." He replied as the sergeant nodded.  
"Good, good….keep it up boys!" He chimed as he went to walk around the machine but as he did so he tripped. Morgan couldn't see on what but the man fell flat on his face and with him went his coffee. It however landed on that machine and spilled all over it. It didn't seem to have an effect at first but then it made a horrid grinding noise and shut down. "Son of a BITCH!" He roared as he jumped up. Every one of the gas mask men swarmed around it, trying to figure out if it could be saved or not. "Ahhh hell….Corporate is not going to like this…WHO LEFT THIS GOD FORSAKEN CORD HERE!" He roared then as he turned on the men.

As all this unfolded people just hurried inside, not caring about procedure or wanting to deal with these rude men. Morgan and Eric were among them, the pair shuffling inside and hurrying towards the Genetek building.  
"What a mess…" Eric sighed before looking at Morgan. She seemed so off and he was still worried about her. "That was pretty funny though huh? You would think they'd make them water proof." He grinned then as he tried to cheer her up.  
"Yeah…funny." Morgan nodded. Her stomach was still a wreck and she felt like she might throw up. They were on to all this…they had to know… Her mind continued to panic as they headed in and finally shut down when she suddenly realized she was at her own work station. With a sigh she just focused on work and tried to get something accomplished.

* * *

Around noon Morgan was starting to work herself into a panic again. The machines outside were down but they had more coming in. In addition to that, a smaller prototype version had been set up INSIDE and during their lunch breaks they were rescanning all employees. When this came to Morgan's attention she had to find a way out. She was trying not to show how panicked she was either but speed walking in the halls did steer some attention her way.  
"Miss!" It was one of them…one of the gasmask freaks. She froze, turning then to look back. Two of them were coming her way, both with guns in hand.  
"Y-yes?" She asked, hands knotting together as her heart raced.  
"All employee's are required to be on break at this time. Where are you going?" They asked.  
"Oh well..you see…" She had to come up with a good lie and fast. "I'm just headed to my locker. I thought I had some Lactate on hand but it seems that I don't." She laughed weakly. "I'm Lactose intolerant you see and I know they have milkshakes today. If I don't grab that little pill I'll suffer for the rest of the day." They seemed to buy it, the pair nodding but then replying with.  
"We understand miss. Let us escort you." Her heart sank. There was no getting out of this….  
"Hheeyyy Morgan!" She and the men spun then as Cadence appeared. She grinned, rushing over and giving her a hug. "Aren't you going to lunch? They have milkshakes today." She beamed.  
"Oh, I am but I have to get my Lactate. I forgot it." She explained while her eyes bored into Cadence. If she wanted to make up for being a bitch for all these months now was the time. She blinked, seeming a bit lost before…  
"Way to go. Forgot it again?" She grinned. Morgan could breathe a little easy.  
"Yeah…" Morgan laughed before looking back at the men.  
"Oh, I'll go with her guys. Go and get something to eat yourselves." Cadence grinned back to the troops. She was good at that 'girlish charm' thing, giving them both a flutter of her eyes and a small glance down her shirt. Both seemed to be alright with it, nodding then and heading off as did the girls.  
"What the hell was that about!" Cadence hissed in a whisper.  
"Cadence I HAVE to get out of here…I just…please. I need your help." Morgan begged as they headed towards the back of Gentek. Cadence hesitated before she narrowed her eyes.  
"Morgan….does this have to do with the weirdo living with you?"  
"Cay please…" Morgan begged. "I promise I'll tell you everything if you just get me out!" Morgan begged. Cadence had never heard this level of desperation in her voice before and after looking in her eyes she knew she had to help. The woman looked like she was near tears…

"Alright…fine. Come with me. Hurry." She whispered as she grabbed her hand. She rushed through the back of the building, taking a service elevator down to the first floor and starting to head towards the back. They ended up in a loading deck that was luckily empty but also closed up. There were no trucks in and no lights which made it not only difficult to navigate but unnerving. When they finally found a door Morgan and Cadence peeked out to see a clear shot out. There was only one problem…  
"Shit!" Cadence shut the door and both of them leaned against it. They had a clear shot but…the problem was there was a group of men guarding the back entrance with another of those machines and this one was working.  
"How am I going to get out now?" Morgan sighed as she put a hand over her eyes.  
"Hey just….relax. We'll think of something. We just need to distract them…" Cadence reasoned as she peeked out again. It was about 12 yards to the perimeter wall and the exit. She knew Morgan could run that distance but getting the guards far enough away….  
"I could always distract them."  
"Cadence no…I….I can't let you risk your job for me…" Morgan hissed. There had to be another way to get those men to move.  
"Well….what if I just act like I found something really shocking and they come over? I can make a big scene over something small." She reasoned. Morgan snorted at that and nodded.  
"That's for sure."  
"Ignoring that…" Cadence sighed before opening the door again. "I know what to do, Morgan you just get ready to run…" She reasoned.  
"Alright and Cay….thank you so much again…" Morgan got a smile back in return before Cadence tore out the door. She slipped around the side of the building but couldn't find anything to freak out over so…she did the next best thing and took out her phone. She took a moment, looking at the men before speaking.  
"OH MY GOD! I can't believe it!" She half shouted before giving an excited little scream. The men looked over at once, said something to one another then tore off towards Cadence. Once Morgan thought they were far enough she tore out the door. She ran as fast as she thought possible, until her lungs were burning and her legs hurt. She was just about to pass through the exit when…

"You there! STOP!" She stumbled and slowed enough to look back. There were other men coming around from the front and they had seen her. The ones Cadence had distracted were still with her and these…these were new men. They hadn't thought about those walking around the building... Morgan didn't stop she simply glanced and then kept running. She was just about to slip out when two things happened at once. First, the machine to her right went off. The top, rotating piece that looked like a tuning fork went into the air before letting loose an ear piercing siren. Morgan shouted, throwing her hands over her ears before she managed to hear something else above it; Gun fire. She screamed then, diving to the side and tumbling to the ground. They were _SHOOTING_ at her! However she didn't have time to lay there and panic. As soon as she hit the ground she shoved herself up again and kept going. She took to the alleys for awhile, not even paying attention to where she was going. She just wanted to get as far away from Gentek as possible…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
An hour and one long cab ride later Morgan was walking up to her door. She was sore and had some scraps on her hands and arms but…she was fine otherwise. She had to wonder about Cadence and hoped that she got out of everything alright. She didn't want her getting in trouble for something that was her fault which all of this was. Groaning she put her head on the door before she moved to unlock the door. Slipping inside, she put her keys on the hook by the door before moving into the living room.  
"Okay so let me explain-" She began before she found herself screaming again. Something had snapped around her waist, snatching her forward before she collided with a wall.  
"Oh shit! Morgan!" She looked up, realizing the wall was actually Alex's chest. She looked to her waist, seeing his whip arm had been wrapped around her. It was vanishing fast though and shifting back into his normal arm.  
"What the HELL was that about!" She hissed as she moved away and brushed herself off some.  
"Sorry…I didn't know it was you…what are you doing here?" He asked as he watched her move back.  
"Genetek is like a hornets nest. Those gas mask people are just…everywhere. They're interrogating employee's and have huge scanners up everywhere….Alex….they're looking for you aren't they?" She wanted answers; there was no hesitating this time. But Alex didn't say anything; he just stood there and sighed. Morgan threw her hands up and gave a shout before leaving for the stairs. "Well I'll let you know now that we are SCREWED. I ran from them, they SHOT at me. That place isn't safe anymore and neither am I. I'm done. We HAVE to get out of here." She ranted as she hurried to her room. Alex was following her though she didn't notice, not even when she dragged out a suitcase and started to throw cloths in it. "I'm going to have to leave town, maybe even the country…"  
"Morgan just…hold on won't you?" Alex sighed he came in. She turned then, making a face and about to point out that he hadn't asked to come in. "Look…I'll fix this. You don't have to leave town just…give me a little while okay?" He asked. It was…frightening how calm he was.  
"Alex…you promised you weren't going to consume people anymore…"  
"I didn't say I was. I'll just…fix this." He assured. "Are you alright? You said they shot at you." She blinked then, surprised he had paid attention.  
"Yeah I think so…they missed." She looked at her hands and arms some. "It's just scraps…I'll live." She nodded before looking at him.  
"Alright well…stay here. I'll be back later on tonight. I can find out what's going on better than you can." He smirked as those tendrils came out. Morgan made a face and swatted one away before moving to put her cloths away.  
"You do that…I'll…find something to do." She sighed, mind on her computer and the models. With a plan set the pair parted company, Morgan staying home for once and Alex heading to Gentek.

Several hours later Morgan had reached a critical point in her work. The models were all saying the same thing and there was good data there to support it. It was just…hard for her to comprehend, to really grasp and accept. By the end she just pulled up an image the computer had generated. It was probably the last image the RX-120 had taken before Alex wrecked it. It was of his blood, the image showing a fuzzy outline of his blood cells and the faint outline of a vein. It all looked normal…except for the fact that floating in his blood were thousands of little viruses. His blood cells were coated in them too, making them appear oddly shaped and mutated, or at least that was what she had thought. Now, after the hours of work she was realizing something. The blood cells weren't coated in the virus…they were _made_ of it. As she watched the video she could see them twisting, bending and _changing_ inside his blood stream. This alone could only mean one thing and it was still hard for her to understand. Luckily for Morgan she didn't have to struggle with the idea for long because Alex came back about half and hour after her discovery. As he entered he sighed, pushing his hood down before moving into the living room with his sights set on the kitchen. He looked a little worn and when Morgan turned to talk to him he actually hushed her. Even more shocking was when he returned and with an apple in hand.  
"Alright…now talk." He chuckled, taking a bite out of it as he stopped at her side. He was actually eating…and she wasn't forcing him to. She couldn't help but smile a little before she turned back to the screen.  
"So, while you were gone I decided to be productive and work some more. I've been close to a break through for awhile so I knew it just needed a little more thought. I was right." She smiled as she pulled up a few models and then that short clip from his blood.  
"And?" Alex pressed.  
"And…well." She sighed, looking from the screen to him. "Alex I don't know how to tell you think but….you…you _are_ the virus. At least that's what this is telling me…"  
"Oh yeah, I knew that."

There was a long pause, silence filling in the room before Morgan was on her feet and in his face.  
"WHY the HELL didn't you tell me!" She screamed, growing angrier when he laughed some.  
"I don't know I guess I just…didn't remember to." He shrugged as he moved to sit. "But you know now. The tests helped and you have more than enough data correct?"  
"Well yes but-"  
"Then keep going." Alex sighed as he moved to sit on the couch. The TV came on and Morgan knew he had clocked out for the night. With a groan and a few coarse words she dropped back in her rolly chair and turned to the computer. She took a few minutes to move everything she needed back on the flash drive and eventually had to use the other one too. With everything saved on there she went into the computer's driver and typed in a command.  
'Do you wish to clear all data?' It asked. Morgan sighed, looking back to Alex for a second before eyeing the screen again. She took the mouse and moved the cursor over 'yes'. One click later the screen went black and the computer started to clear itself off.

This time…she would start completely fresh.


	10. One Night Stand

**Alright you guys... Hopefully the wait as been well worth it! -dances-  
Another chapter for everyone and I hope you enjoy it. I've actually been looking forward to this chapter since I first started drafting the story and oddly enough it was the HARDEST one I've had to write. I started, stopped and started writing this again and again and FINALLY got it done. :D But yes...I've purposefully done things in this chapter that will be brought up again later so keep an eye out.**

**Love as always!  
~Primal  
**

**P.S. I do plan to put in some things from Prototype 2 in later, I have finished the game twice, both on normal and hard *is proud* and I like too many things from it to not incorporate it.  
**

* * *

The computer would take some time to clear so as it hummed in the background Morgan rose to make herself something to eat. Seeing Alex with the apple in hand made her own appetite come back and while she was still a little irritated with him…she wanted to do _something_. He had been making a real effort to make up for hurting her the last few days and it had meant a lot. He never put effort into anything and he was showing that...maybe he wasn't so inhuman after all?  
"Hey, Alex?" She called from the kitchen.  
"Yeah?" He called back.  
"Hungry for anything?" She asked as she looked in the freezer.  
"Erm…" He seemed a bit thrown by the question but was moving to come into the kitchen. "I suppose anything…though something with meat would be nice." He admitted as Morgan snorted. She looked over then and laughed a little at him.  
"I think that's the most typical guy thing you've ever said." She admitted as he rolled his eyes.  
"Well I'm glad I could be typical for you." He mused before heading back out. With that helpful bit of information she looked back into the freezer, pulling out some chicken to put on the counter. Well if he just wanted meat then she would make something she wanted and he could just deal. The simplicity of cooking dinner was just the thing that Morgan needed. It was mechanical but still challenging enough to keep her interest. After all Morgan was going all out. She had decided to bread the chicken, taking her time with herbs and some spices before putting it in the oven with some veggies. She even hand mashed some potato's and it was then that Alex came out.

"Wow you're…really cooking huh?" He chuckled as he pushed his hair back some.  
"I am. I decided that we both deserved something after the last few days." She hummed as he came in further.  
"Erm…can I …help at all?" Alex asked which stole Morgan's attention. He...wanted to help?  
"Well….maybe…" Morgan smiled as she looked around. What could he do without risking contamination…then again at this point she could be sick too and she wouldn't have even noticed. "You can finish mashing this if you want. Just don't break my stuff." She smirked as she pushed the bowl to him. Alex snorted, rolling his eyes before he pulled the bowl closer to him but left it on the counter. He turned then, washing his hands first before starting. That had Morgan giggling a good bit as she moved to the fridge. She got the milk out and moved back over and even started to pour it when Alex jerked the bowl away.  
"What are you doing!"  
"I'm putting milk in the potatoes…it makes them creamy." Morgan snorted as she made a face. "Alex…give me the bowl…"  
"No! That's gross…"  
"Alex!" She laughed, trying to grab it only to watch him put it over his head. He was acting like a child! She couldn't believe this!  
"No! I don't want milk in my potatoes." He snorted as he smirked down at her. She was so tiny compared to him!  
"Oh they're your potatoes now huh?" Morgan laughed as she crossed her arms.  
"Yes because I'm mashing them." He nodded as Morgan sighed and glared. It was getting a little ridiculous…  
"Alex. Give me the damn potatoes." She growled as she started to get a little irritated.  
"No." He smirked, eyes lighting up a little. It was probably a little sick that he was getting a high off this but…hey he was having…fun right? Morgan figured she could over look that part of all this.  
"ALEX!" She shouted as she stomped her foot. That got a laugh out of him for that one.  
"Oohh, feisty."  
"You bastard! Give them back!" She roared before she came up with an idea. "Fine." She hissed, turning her back and opening the jug some. She dripped just a few drops of milk onto her fingers before she turned and flicked it into his face. He slammed his eyes shut, taking a moment before opening his eyes as she giggled. He looked rather pissed but Morgan just kept snickering and he let it go. He sighed, moving the bowl back low again before he pulled his own revenge. His hand blurred fast, scooping up a little potato before throwing it at her. Morgan shrieked and jerked back, Alex laughing a good bit as she put the milk down and fussed.

"You are NO help at all! Get out of my kitchen!" She demanded once she wiped the potato off. It wasn't that bad but she still hadn't enjoyed that. Alex thought it was hilarious though, the man still laughing as he put the bowl down and left. "I shouldn't give you any dinner at all! Jerk!" She continued to shout as he moved back out to sit. As things started to calm again though she couldn't help but smile, finding that the mood had been lightened significantly compared to earlier. The flight from Gentek felt like a very distant memory at this point which was blessing on Morgan.  
However with Alex out of the kitchen Morgan was able to get things done a lot faster. Milk was added to the potatoes, the chicken was finished and several other sides were completed and set on the table. It was a nice little meal once it was all put out, Morgan smiling at her handy work.  
"Alright you animal, TV off and come eat." She called over to Alex before she moved to get drinks. He snorted, doing so though and picking a seat at the table before starting to make his plate. Morgan would return, putting a glass down for him before she noticed he had stopped. He was staring at something too, the table by the looks of it. "Alex? What…?" She asked, trying to see what he was seeing.  
"The tables cracked…" He sighed softly, eyes glancing up at her. Morgan noticed the crack then, trying to remember what it was from…  
"Oh…" It had been from three days ago…when he had grabbed her… "Don't worry about it…its stable…I'll order a new one." She reasoned as she moved to sit. He gave a nod but seemed to be…a little upset… He just kept staring while a hand of his stirred some of the mixed veggies around on his plate. "Alex seriously….it's fine." She pressed as she started on her own food. "Try the chicken…and the potatoes…" She smirked. That seemed to snap him back to reality and the first thing he did was try the potatoes. He took a bite, chewed and made a face. Morgan groaned and tossed her fork down on the plate.  
"What's wrong with them?" She huffed as she crossed her arms. Alex took his time too, seeming to really taste the potatoes before he sighed and looked at her.  
"Nothing…they're good."  
"HA!" Morgan smirked, pointing at him before pumping her fist to the sky a little. "I. Told. You. So." She snickered as he rolled his eyes and continued to eat. "Ridicule my cooking again..." She hummed, having a rather superior complex for the rest of the meal. It was quiet for the remainder but unlike many of the times before it wasn't an uncomfortable silence but rather a very peaceful one. It was only when they were finishing up that things were interrupted by Morgan's cell phone going off. She excused herself, putting her napkin on her plate before she went to answer it. Checking the screen she saw it was Cadence and hoped this wouldn't be bad.

"Hello?"  
"Hey." Well shoot she sounded pissed.  
"Hey Cay…what happened? Are you alright?" She asked hesitantly.  
"Well apart from having spent the ENTIRE rest of the day locked in a windowless room being interrogated yeah! I'm _just_ PEACHY." She growled as Morgan hung her head and sighed. Well….crap…  
"Look…Cay I really am sorr-"  
"AND! To top it off…" She wasn't done yet. "I was worried sick the entire time that they _shot_ you when all I wanted to do was be pissed! BITCH! Are you okay!" She growled, trying her hardest to still sound angry. Morgan snorted then and gave a weak laugh.  
"Yeah, well…I'm sorry Cay. Truly, and I was okay. They missed." She assured "I'm happy you didn't get in trouble though…you didn't, did you?"  
"No…I wasn't doing anything wrong. I was scolded some for not going to the lunch thing but they don't think I was related to you." Well that was a relief to hear. They were both okay…well…Cadence was. Morgan didn't know if they had seen her face or not.  
"Well…I do feel bad for dragging you into things Cay so…can I make it up to you?" She asked. Cadence took a moment to think then, sure there had to be something she could get Morgan to do that she REALLY wanted her to.  
"Well you owe me a full story so…" She began as Morgan laughed weakly. There was that… "I know what I want!" she gasped then. Already Morgan was regretting that offer.  
"What Cay?"  
"Come out to the club with m. You said you'd make it up to me!" She reasoned as she snickered. She had been trying to get Morgan out to the club for five months now and she hadn't given in yet. But now…well she owed her… Morgan gave a groan then and hung her head.  
"Damn it Cay…"  
"YOU SAID!" She reminded as Morgan sighed again.  
"I did…I did….okay! Fine." She gave in, Cadence cheering on the other side. Morgan told her she would start getting ready and Cadence told her she'd be there in about two hours. With the plan set Morgan hung up, shocked to realize she had wandered her way half way up her stairs while she talked. Shaking her head she headed back down to clean the table but was surprised to see that…well…it had already been done. She looked around, hearing a dish clink in the kitchen. She moved over and saw then that Alex had taken care of everything; he had even started loading the dish washer!

"Wow…I…Alex you didn't have to." She smiled as she stepped in a little.  
"You were busy…who was that on the phone?" He asked as he shut the washer door and looked at her.  
"Oh, um, Cadence." Morgan answered. "She uh…well she helped me escape today and I sort of owed her. She chose what she wanted me to do." She groaned.  
"Oh, they bad?" Alex smirked.  
"I'm going out to a dance club and Cadence will be coming by here to get me." She warned as she started out.  
"Dear god."  
"I appreciate your sympathy." Morgan laughed as she started towards her room. She would have to get a move on and get ready. Hopefully she would dress up enough to earn Cadences approval but she was doubtful.  
"Should I be scarce when she comes by?" Alex asked as he moved back to the couch.  
"Probably best." Morgan called as she hurried up the stairs. She would worry about him later, for now her mind was tearing through her closet in hopes of finding something…clubby.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One hour and 45 minutes later Morgan was ready to go. She was happy with the progress she had made and was hoping that she wouldn't die in her heels. She hadn't worn them in a long time and already her feet were protesting. They were black, simple but elegant with about 4 inch heels on them. She had showered and washed her hair before putting it up in some curlers. When they came out she was left with some soft, wavy curls that looked almost natural. She added some shades of blue eye shadow plus black liner and darkened her eye lashes with mascara. Then, finally, there was her dress. She had some flashy things but she really didn't want to attract too much attention that night so she went classy. She found a black strapless that was tight fitting and zipped in the back and came about mid way up her thigh. She slipped it on, checked herself in the mirror and redid her hair some before she started down. She grabbed a small bag too, taking some money, her phone and house keys with her.  
"Alright well…Cadence should be here soon so if you want to go hide somewhere…now would be the time." She called as she started down the stairs.  
"Good to know." Alexis sighed, turning off the TV for the time being before looking over at her. He paused then, expression...another one that Morgan couldn't quiet identify. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs though when she noticed and made a face of her own.  
"What?"  
"You're just…in a dress…" He chuckled as he smirked some. Morgan continued to make her face though and turned her back to him some.  
"You're making me self conscious….go away." She growled as he laughed and got up.  
"Okay, okay..." He sighed, moving past her and down the hall. Morgan figured he was going to lurk in the guest bathroom or something but she really didn't pay him much attention. She moved back into the living room, making sure she had everything before she noticed….  
"Ug, slob…" She sighed. Alex had made the area around the couch his little space at it seemed. There was a small pile of her brother's clothes to the side of the couch as well as a bag of pretzels that he had left on the small table in front of the couch. She moved to clean it up but as she did the doorbell rang. She'd get it later, for now she needed to let Cadence in. When she opened the door several things happened at once. First of all Morgan took in Cadences outfit. She was dressed in a flaming red dress that came to her knees, matched with a black loose belt around her waist which looked like it was made out of the same material as her shoes. They were black and heels like Morgan's only they were outrageously tall; at least 6 inches. It allowed Cadence to tower over her a good bit which had Morgan laughing some. She had done her eyes up fiery as well which left 'little' Cadence looking rather intimidating.  
"Why are you laughing! But oh wow Morgan…I love it. You look great!" She grinned as she slipped inside.  
"Well thank you." Morgan hummed back before explaining. "You're just so tall Cay…I'm not used to it." That seemed to perk her up, Cadence doing a little sultry walk into the living room.  
"Well…I do try…" She hummed as Morgan rolled her eyes.  
"Right well…aren't we going? I take it your brought a cab?" She asked as she watched Cadence snoop around a little.  
"Oh yeah, he's waiting…" She noted before….her eyes caught Alex's messy space. "Wow…he's a bit of a slob isn't it?" She asked as Morgan motioned her towards the door. That cab wouldn't wait forever!  
"Yes, now come'on!"  
"You're still making him stay on the couch huh? Morgan, tisk, tisk!" Cadence smirked before dodging out of the way of Morgan's flying hand.  
"Will you stop with that Cadence? It's not funny!" Morgan roared as she chased her out towards the door.  
"What! I'm shocked you haven't kicked him into a hotel or into your room yet…" She squealed and tore out of the house then, Morgan raving a little as she chased after her. She needed to just STOP with those jokes…

The hours passed and while it took awhile to get Cadence to stop talking about Alex the night went rather well. Morgan had sworn she wasn't going to drink at the bar but Cadence convinced her otherwise by using her 'you owe me' card again. Morgan kept it light though, dancing a little and really just making sure that Cadence had a good night. Cadence, on the other hand, didn't hesitate to drink, accepting all the drinks sent her way and even some that Morgan turned down. By the end of the night she was more that a little uncoordinated and Morgan had to help her out of the club to a cab.  
"You my dear…have over done it." Morgan laughed as they settled into the back seat.  
"I…I have not!" Cadence laughed before leaning into her gently. "Morgan have I…have I ever told you…how much of a great person you are?" Morgan gave a laugh and shook her head. Well this would be a fun ride back.  
"Not lately." She admitted as she watched her.  
"Well…you…you are. You are so wonderful and perfect and just…I'm so happy…that you're in my life." Cadence sniffed before hugging her tight.  
"Ohh….okay Cay just…take it easy." Morgan laughed as she patted her back.  
"I just….I love you, ya know? You're so great…"  
"Just hush Cay." Morgan laughed again before patting her head. The women would blubber for a little while more as they drove but it wasn't bad. Morgan just nodded and listened and kept an eye out for her apartment. When they arrived they told the cab driver to hold up, leading her up to the door and making sure she got inside safe.  
"Good night Cadence." She laughed as her friend stumbled into the house.  
"Night, night." She giggled before shutting the door. Morgan shook her head, laughing some as she headed back to the cab. She gave the man her address and took a moment then, realizing she was a little light headed. It wasn't bad though, nothing she couldn't deal with. More importantly she was nothing like Cadence. Soon enough the cab was slowing though, Morgan seeing her apartment outside the window. She smiled some and thanked the driver as she paid for the ride and got out. She laughed at herself then, realizing she was a little wobbly on those heels of hers.  
"Maybe I did over do it a little…" She sighed before slipping them off. She hurried up to the front door then, unlocking it and heading inside. Like usual her key went on the table by the door and she left her heels by the door as well.

"I'm back!" She called, hearing the TV on in the living room. There wasn't a response so she headed in. Alex appeared to be watching some, not the news for once but some sort of TV show.  
"Oh…sorry." Alex chuckled as he sat up and looked at her. "You're back in one piece I see." He noted, watching her as she moved into the living room.  
"Why wouldn't I?" Morgan asked, moving to get some water. Once she had the glass she moved back out, making herself at home on the couch beside him. He sat up more then, eyes still on her as she sipped her water. She finally got annoyed with his eyes and spoke up with a small glare.  
"What!"  
"Are you drunk?" He smirked as Morgan gasped softly.  
"NO!" She hissed, initially offended but then….she had an idea. Hell if he thought she was…perhaps she could get away with being a pest without consequences? It was worth a shot! After all she was a little bit tipsy… "Only a little…" She giggled as she leaned towards him.  
"Outstanding…" Alex groaned as he leaned away. That was just what he needed. He really didn't feel like he should be responsible for her.  
"Oh what's a matter Lexy? Uuunnnccoommmffoorrtaabbllee?" She hummed as she dragged out the word and over pronounced each syllable. Alex made a face at the nickname, his nose even crinkling up some.  
"Lexy?"  
"Yup! That's your new nickname! Llleexxyyy." She giggled again as she let herself 'fall' against his side. "What? Don't you like it Lexy?"  
"Not particularly." He muttered as he continued to make a face. She was touching him again…why? "I think…you should go upstairs." He sighed then as he tried to move her away again.  
"Ddaawww! What's wrong Lexy? Do you not like me being close?" She asked again as he made another face again.  
"Not... really…" He muttered, a mix of conflicting emotions rising up in his chest. She was _still_ touching him!  
"Then what's a matter? You look very unhappy." She smirked as she continued to invade his space. She had turned a little, facing him while still sitting on the couch.  
"Well you're in my space for one…" He sighed as he finally looked at her. He really couldn't avoid looking her in the eyes at this point. "Secondly you keep calling me Lexy." Morgan just giggled more.  
"It sounds even better when you say it. Iiii think it's cute." She hummed as she reached up to mess with his hair some. His hood was down after all and she had never been close enough to actually…touch his hair. Would it feel just like hers? Now that she knew what he was…she was questioning a lot of things. However just as she was about to touch a lock he blocked her hand by throwing up his own. She pouted some, trying again but this time he shoved her arm away gently. She let herself crack up some more, purposely falling forward and across his lap.  
"God you're sad." Alex sighed though it sounded like he was becoming a bit amused by her state.

"Am not!" Morgan gasped as she shifted onto her back and reached up to hit his chest lightly. He rolled his eyes at that and watched her then, finding her giggling almost…a little contagious. She gave another light hit then before she let herself relax back again. She shifted then, lying on her back before throwing her legs up on the couch. Alex snorted at that move, watching her and raising an eye.  
"Comfortable?" He asked, trying not to squirm too much. It felt…a little odd to be this close to someone.  
"Very." Morgan hummed happily before playing with a curl of hair. Alright so…maybe she was pushing things. She wanted to see how he would react! What other chance would she ever get?  
"Well I still stand with what I said earlier. You need to go to bed." Alex sighed as he watched her. His eyes left her face for a moment then, only because she was moving her legs. She was smirking, bringing a leg up some so the bottom of her foot could rest on the couch. Hey she didn't have her shoes on so it was okay. Plus it was her couch. "Err….Morgan…" He muttered, voice sounding a bit off. He was starting to notice other things too, like how the dress was riding up more as she pushed that leg up, how the dress was actually _fitted_ to her….this was a dangerous situation.  
"Yes?" She hummed, still playing with her hair as she watched him. She thought it was hilarious, her clouded mind not seeing all the emotions that were flickering behind those eyes. All she could see was that he appeared on edge and uncomfortable which was typical to a point. She had just never seen those emotions directed towards her and it was cracking her up. Finally he spoke up again.  
"I think…it would be in your best interest if you went to bed…" He muttered, voice becoming a little throaty and low.  
"Oh? Is that a threa-" Morgan's voice cut off, her eyes widening a little as she looked down to her leg. Alex had cut her off with his hand, a hand that had started on her ankle and was now starting to slide up. She had to admit she was startled and a little frozen in place. Hell she had been waiting for him to throw her off his lap or something to that nature but this…

She fought a small shiver as his hand climbed, passing her knee, turning to the inside of her leg and continuing up. She woke up a little more then, sitting up and moving off his lap some.  
"Alex…I…um…" This didn't seem right. "I don't think-" Again she was cut off but this time by something different. His hand had stopped on her upper thigh, resting there while she felt another pressure. This time it was on her shoulder and it felt like….his _teeth!_ It was, Alex was nipping at her skin as well as leaving what she could only assume was, dare she think it, kisses? Her heart flipped over, a small panicky bird starting to flutter around in her chest as this continued. His hand was still on her thigh but on the inside of it as his fingers began to stroke the skin there. This….this was _dangerous_ and something deep down told her so.  
"A-alex…" She laughed weakly as she rushed to move off the couch. She stood, fixing the dress some as she tried to calm down. "I….I don't think…" She began, tensing come when she heard him rise behind her.  
"You don't think what?" He asked as his hand moved to brush around her waist. That bird sped up, crashing into her ribs as it fought for a way out.  
"U-um…this…us…it…" She felt him turning her, his hand on her waist doing so easily so she was soon stuck facing him again. He didn't say a thing but rather moved close and let his eyes lock with hers. This was not helping her nerves; rather it was making it worse and adding to the sick feeling in her stomach. She opened her mouth to say his name again, to try and get him to stop but this time he shut her up. While she had thought, at first, he was going to kiss her for real he didn't. Rather his jaw locked on her neck, nipping, kissing and sucking gently on her skin. His right hand grabbed her waist then, pulling her back closer as the left ran down the length of her back before stopping on her ass. The sudden attention was a bit overwhelming, enough so that Morgan gave a pretty bad shudder and had to grab the front of his jacket. Well….HELL! She struggled to regain a clear train of thought, his mouth making her brain go rather fuzzy while one of his hands moved to travel down the back of her thighs. This…this was impossible to think through.  
"A-alex…" She whimpered, trying to wiggle away a little. They…they needed to talk. This…this wasn't normal. Did he…was this…? His one arm snatched around her then though, yanking her tight to his chest as his lifted his lips.  
"Please…just shut up." He growled softly as he moved enough to lock eyes with her again. Her stomach turned over, seeing a burn behind his eyes. It wasn't a familiar one though, not like the one she had seen the day he had snatched her.  
"I….um…" She didn't know what to say…how to phrase it. "O-okay?" She laughed weakly before she eeped. He was shoving her back and fast, the pair soon hitting a wall was he pinned her there. He smirked some, Morgan feeling her heart flip again before he was back at her neck again. He had changed sides though, tearing into the other side as both his hands ran up her sides. The dress came up a considerable few inches at that and Morgan wasn't caring at this point. Her hands had snarled into his jacket, not really able to do much else at that moment.

As Alex tore into her neck more and more Morgan felt her legs becoming a bit weak, her hands soon shifting up to tangle and snarl in his hair. Somewhere in the haze of her mind she noted that it felt just like a normal person's hair but that only registered FAR back in her mind. At the moment her focus was on his lips and occasionally his teeth. However that soon shifted as her legs did begin to give out. His hands slipped down to stop that, grabbing her by the back of her thighs before he picked her up and further pinned her to the wall. He shifted her some, locking his waist with hers as she just went ahead and put her legs around him. She did shift her head some then, starting to leave some kisses of her own. Well if he was going to tear into her….it should at least be mutual. She was moving her arms then, letting his hair go as she moved to try and peel some layers off of his chest. As she did so Alex moved away from the wall, only doing so to give her room to remove the jackets. But in doing so they lost the pressure between them that was allowing her to use the wall as her support. She yelped, almost falling but Alex moved his arms just in time to catch her.  
"ALEX!" She yelped, the man chuckling a good deal as they took a moment to settle.  
"Opps."  
"No! No 'opps'!" She hissed as she peeked to glare at him. He just smirked more, eyes still burning with that unidentifiable glow. She smiled some then, shifting her legs back down so she could stand on her own. Her eyes stayed locked with his though, the draw to lean in close…to do what she wanted almost unbearable. As she started to though he shifted back some which made Morgan stop and watch him. He smirked some then and chuckled a little as he watched her.  
"I knew you weren't drunk….Liar…" He hummed as Morgan just smiled. She wouldn't say anything to that, just smile and watch him.  
"Did that encourage you or hold you back?" She teased a little as he rolled his eyes and shook his head. That was a loaded question and he wasn't touching it.  
"Well now that you've admitted it…" He hummed as he started to pin her back to the wall again. Morgan laughed some, backing up willingly as his lips went back to her neck and his hands to her legs. It didn't take long for him to push it up more, the bottom of the dress soon around her hips as he leaned and pressed her against the wall. At this point Morgan felt like the garment was completely worthless anyways and then….she remembered something else. With a smirk she somehow found some wiggle room, slipping away from him as she pushed the dress back down. Alex watched with a rather pouty face as she moved away, not sure why she had started to walk off.  
"Well….you were right…it is getting late… I probably should go to bed." She sighed, moving back towards the stairs. She couldn't see it because her back was to him but Alex looked like a cat that had been doused in ice water. The hell she was just going to walk away like that…  
"Oh nice try…" He snorted, Morgan looking back as he started to come after her. She laughed, taking off then as she headed for the stairs.  
"No cheating!" She called out, jumping up the stairs two at a time. Alex made another face then, looking down at the whip fist he had been about to use. He didn't have to listen to her...he could it he wanted to… However as she ran up the stairs laughing he finally took chase and tried to keep his pace a humanly one. Morgan was already ahead of him though and got to her room before he did, the women laughing some as she stopped at her bed and tried to think. Where to go? Did she dare try to hide? She didn't have a chance to do anything though because two seconds later Alex zoomed in and tackled her onto the bed. He was never one to completely follow the rules after all. Morgan gave a laugh, having landed on her stomach on the bed while Alex hovered above her. He smirked and moved back close as his lips locked on the back of her neck and his hands held her wrists down to the bed. Morgan shuddered, trapped there as her hands gripped the bed sheets.  
"You son of a bitch." She shuddered, realizing that he had pinned her down like this on purpose…she couldn't do anything back. Alex laughed again but this one sounded a lot more satisfied and twisted. Morgan rolled her eyes, figuring he was probably getting a high off this too which was probably a bad thing. He continued to leave marks on her neck but after awhile finally started to move off. He slipped to the side, Morgan shifting onto her side before moving after him. Alex smirked some and decided to test something himself. He shifted onto his back and moved towards the head of the bed. He laid there, waiting to see what Morgan did. He was surprised when she moved right up on top of him, not even hesitating as she smirked.

"Well don't look so surprised…" She teased as one hand kept her up a little and the other rested on his chest.  
"It's not like I've seen you like this before…" Alex snorted as a hand started to slip down her back again. Morgan was going to say something but that hand of his ended up on her ass again and this time grabbed her pretty hard.  
"Alex!" Morgan hissed, starting to push away from him but he flipped them then. He smirked, shutting her up again by finding that sweet spot on her neck. This time Morgan actually moaned and her back arched up to lock with his own. Alex shuddered a little too which only got worse when her hands moved _down_. Her fingers found his pants but rather than do what he thought she would, she hooked her fingers in the loops of his jeans. She grinned some, pulling him down close to her as her own lips started to lock on his skin. For a moment her froze, letting her do what he wanted as he just adjusted to all this. He hadn't been this close someone in… a LONG, long time….since before the accident and things felt a little different. His mind wasn't allowed to wander long though and Morgan saw to that. His thoughts coming crashing back down to earth as she moved, arching up more as she let her waist lock again and then grind against his.  
"Shit…" He shuddered, dropping down a bit closer to her. He had been holding himself up some, oddly worried he would crush her. Morgan snickered some at her triumph and allowed her hands to slip from his waist to his chest again. She let her waist slip away some then, Alex zipping his arm around her though so he could pull her back close again. Morgan worked fast, her hands starting to tear open his jacket and the other layers he still had on. Two jackets and then one button up shirt later her hands were finally allowed to explore what she had seen those months ago when he came screaming into the living room in a towel. She snickered some then but hid it as she tucked her head into his neck and left a small bite there. Hey he had been doing it to her! He still was, rather….roughly at the moment too.  
"If you keep doing that you're going to draw blood." She muttered weakly, Alex pausing against her neck to smirk. He switched sides then and wasn't as rough as he had been. That was only temporary though, Alex starting to get carried away again when Morgan started grinding against him again. She shivered as she did so, his arm tightening to keep her close enough to do that. Her hands were starting to push his clothes off, the jackets coming off as one blob while his button up was tossed away soon after. Morgan noticed her dress was being pushed up again too, Alex's free hand doing so while he let a lot of his weight rest on her. He wasn't as heavy as he thought he was so Morgan was just fine. With his jackets gone her hands ran down his back allowing him shudder and his lips to pause. Soon enough her fingers found the rim of his jeans just as he found her waist again. He had pushed the dress up just as far but his hands were still under it as he continued to touch. They did slip away after a moment though, moving to stroke up her back as his fingers groped and looked for something. He searched for a few seconds while Morgan succeeded in grinding a bit more and letting her hands tangle in his hair. Finally Alex seemed to get frustrated, actually dropping Morgan on the bed as she eeped and looked up. He was pouting!

"What?" Morgan asked as she watched him.  
"Get it off or I'm tearing it off." He growled, his eyes actually giving off a literal glow in the dark. They hadn't bothered to turn on lights when they came up so besides his eyes her digital clock was the only thing lighting up the room.  
"The zipper's in the back smart guy…" She laughed as she watched his face. He looked so annoyed! It was hilarious!  
"Shut up." He muttered, moving his hands back to actually feel for it. It had been a little hard before…with her grinding like she had. He found it though and smiled, pulling the zipper all the way down until it stopped which was at her waist. He moved to tear it off but Morgan actually stopped him.  
"Nu uh…You'll tear it and I like this dress." She snorted as she slipped up and stood beside the bed. He rolled his eyes, watching then as she slipped out of the dress. She smiled, leaving it on the floor but off to the side and not in a pile.  
"There." She smiled before she yelped again. Alex had grabbed her by her middle, yanking her back and onto the bed. He was over her again before she could say anything, this time letting his lips lock on her collar and around the hollow of her throat. His hands zipped fast, going to unhook the strapless bra she had worn under the dress. That came off easily, joining all the clothes on the floor as his hands roamed. Morgan twitched under him, shivering and having to bite back moans as both his hands and his lips roamed. She did manage to tangle her own hands in his hair, keeping those there as her waist slowly locked back to his. She smirked again; noticing this time there was a bulge in his jeans. Well that had her self esteem up. After all she had only seen him show a handful of emotions so the fact that he had this feeling at all…well it was a boost to her moral!  
She let the grinds continue then, but they were less rough and almost teasing. She could tell it was pissing him off too, his hands tugging her up closer and his kisses turning more into just bites. Finally she stopped being a tease and shifted her waist away, her hands moving down this time to do as he expected. She felt her for button on his pants, smirking some as he shuddered and bit into her shoulder more as she did so. She managed to undo it and was brushing towards that zipper but she was stopped. She blinked some, looking at him as he grabbed her wrists and pinning then back up around her head.  
"Alex?"  
"Just….pause…" He muttered as he got up, moved off the bed and dropped his pants. "Don't. Move." He pointed as she laughed and watched him. She wasn't planning on it. Alex moved away, heading into her bathroom and shutting the door. Morgan was completely lost but she didn't ask and just moved under the covers. She jumped when she head something softly crash in the bathroom, wondering what on earth her was wrecking in there. She sighed, letting it go and trying to be patient. It failed though, Morgan actually slipping off her underwear as she thought about going in there after him. As she pulled her panties off the door opened and Alex came back out. He paused, wondering what she was doing before his eyes widened. She was spinning them around her index finger and laughing.  
"Well?" She asked, half screaming then as he lunged across the room and landed on the bed. He was over her in a second, scrambling under the covers as Morgan laughed something along the lines of.  
"Catch up will you?"


	11. To Whom it May Concern

This is just a warning of sorts to anyone who plans on continuing to read this story.

Since I put up chapter 10 I've only had reviews that have been overly negative about what happens, and to be honest is hasn't done a lick of good. Frankly I don't even feel like continuing the story because of it.  
If you guys had an issue with 10 then you're probably just going to be bitching me out for the rest of this story. Let me clarify

**SPOILER ALERT**

YES! Morgan and Alex had a little thing. Does it mean they're going to be running of into the sunset to live happily ever after?  
HELL. NO.

Are they going to continue to have relationship ups and downs and intimacies? Yes. So if that bothers you then bugger off.  
I don't want your hate reviews.  
I don't want to read about how you hated the chapter or how you didn't even bother to read it.  
Because you know what guys, reading stuff like that? Yeah that, **DEFINITELY** helps a writer out. That sort of anger really makes me want to continue writing. If I could I would turn off reviews on the story completely because I really don't want to hear it.

I also understand that not every single one of my readers reviewed and chewed me out but when I get 3 reviews in a row within 24 hours of posting a chapter, all negative and angry? It doesn't make me want to finish things NOR does it help in ANY way.

I **KNOW** the fanbase for Prototype and I KNOW that most fics, hell most fan art, for Alex and his gang pair him up with Cross or someone else. I **KNEW** going into this I would probably get some serious hate for what I was writing but you know what? I'm writing this more for myself than anything. When the game finished with that seriously inconclusive ending, I lost my mind. I knew that couldn't be the end so I thought up one for myself. Of course this was during my Freshman year of college (three years ago mind you) and I didn't know if there would be a Prototype 2.

So, if you just go into reviews to write something cold, something mean about how you hated it? I'd really rather you un-favorite the story or just keep it to yourself.  
I have enough crap going on in real life that keeps me in a slump and writing is one of my only outs. So when I actually SHARE something I write, which I rarely do, and it gets torn apart? It **_hurts_**.

SO! If you have a problem with Chapter 10? You probably should just abandon this story.  
Again, they aren't going to be riding off into the sun set under a rainbow raining baby kittens but it's not going to do away.  
No it won't be perfect. Yes there are going to be serious issues along the line.  
I've had this story drafted and outlined since my freshman year so either shut up or get off the bus.

I'll probably get even more hate for this but I just had to say something because I don't think people realize how their words can affect someone.  
So consider this your final and last warning.

If you have a problem with the last chapter?  
**STOP READING.**  
If you want to pick apart my chapters and story line?  
**DON'T REVIEW.**

I don't get anything constructive from it and I don't want to hear it.

Primal


	12. Aftershocks

**Let me just say, Mega love to all my watchers and people who noted me privately of off FF about the story. I admit, I threw a tantrum over last chapter but when I get review after review of people telling me that it was just BAD I get a little defensive. Don't get me wrong, I'm open to _c__onstructive_ criticism by all means but just telling me: 'Yo you suck'...yeah I can get kinda pissed. XD**

**Needless to say this story is going to continue! With vengeance! XDDD **

**I already have the next chapter completed and possibly the one to follow. I'm not sure since it's rather short compared to all the others so I might try to juice it up some more. ^^**

**Anyways, Love as always and look for more ASAP! I'm out of school finally and after playing through Proto 1 to show my roomie and starting the second one again I'm all juiced up to write! -dances about-**

**- Love as always,  
Primal  
**

* * *

The night passed like a dream, a good one but a dream none the less. The alarm on her bedside stand sounded less like a wake up call and more like a stab to the temple. That alone was weird enough for Morgan since she knew she didn't have a hangover and usually the alarm wasn't so piercing. What became apparent as the seconds passed was that she was very much alone in her own bed...naked and alone in her bed. She sat up after punching her alarm and pushed her hair out of her face. Alex was gone. Where she had last remembered seeing him the sheets were thrown back and the spot was cold. Had she expected him to be there? She wasn't sure...some part of her had but the logical side laughed at her disappointment. Having procrastinated long enough she pushed herself up and left the bed. She noted that his clothes were gone from the floor as she moved to the bathroom and shook her head. Why had she expected him to be there again? This was probably typical for him.

Inside the bathroom she found that the space under her sink had been torn through which was made clear by the scattered piles of various bathroom sundries. The doors and even been left ajar. This had probably been what Alex had messed with the night before! Shocked, she quickly realized what he had done. On the counter was, of all things, an open box of condoms. She didn't even remember the last time she had bought them but he had clearly found some stashed away. She was astounded. Why would someone like Alex, known for having world class _IM_patience have taken the time to grab protection? Sure some part of her was a little pleased of him but...why? She was on birth control …then again he didn't know that. Shrugging she let the discovery go and turned on the water to take a hot shower. She needed to push the night away and face the fact that…she had work in a few hours and the last time she had been there she left with bullets biting her heels...

The rest of the morning went quietly by. Apart from using obscene amounts of cover up on her neck (which looked like someone had tried to choke her in the night) her routine was unchanged. Breakfast only consisted of some coffee and toast since her stomach was churned at the thought of work. Had they seen her face? Gotten her name? Was it even safe to go back? Finally, she decided she had no choice and that avoiding work would look more suspicious than going back and pretending like nothing had happened. Grabbing her ID, keys and bag she set her sights on the door. Just as she reached for the handle it turned and the door swung open. She narrowly avoided it and came face to face with Alex.

The silence that followed was the single most awkward moment she had ever shared with him. The door shut softy behind him and after an initial moment of eye contact they both quickly looked to the floor. Morgan fought several urges to speak, bailing out at the last moment because she felt like whatever she had to say was just...well...stupid. Hours seemed to tick by and never once did he take the opportunity to say anything. Finally, Morgan just scurried out the door.  
The last time she had been in such an uncomfortable situation had been in 11th grade. She thought nothing would have topped having her deepest feelings for the student valedictorian read over the intercom but this was a definite challenger. Today was turning into a day of surprises and that prospect had her pouting on her walk to work. However in an attempt to avoid even more surprises Morgan stopped a local coffee shop and stole their bathroom. The memories of the previous day were still fresh in her mind, as well as what had happened when she passed one of the now dubbed 'tuning fork' machines. They could detect Alex's virus, it had to have been what set it off when she dashed past it. Not wanting a repeat she changed her clothes and quickly left. She stashed her original outfit in the bag she had brought and hid that in a rarely used alley just a block from Gentek. If she had any luck it would still be there when she finished working. With a little more confidence and composure under her belt she headed to the front gates to face the Blackwatch troops. However she was startled when she and everyone else were informed that the machines were 'malfunctioning'. However they weren't without a back up plan. The troops had handheld scanners but after every 5th person they had to be reset. This slowed down the scanning severely and led to a lot of misplaced anger from the troops. Luckily, Morgan's scanning went through without any hiccups and she was allowed inside without any special attention. Relief was her companion all the way up to her locker where she grabbed her lab coat, some gloves and checked her schedule that had been freshly printed and left inside. However that was were she met yet another problem. There was no schedule for her.

She searched her locker, wondering if it had slipped under something, fallen into a crevice…nothing. She peeked back out at her colleagues who all schedules in _their_ hands. But before she could ask if anyone had accidentally been given hers (a common accident) a gloved hand grabbed her shoulder and snapped her around. Her breathe caught in her throat as she met the masked face of a trooper; one of two.  
"Ms. Miller?" The first hissed through his mask. The entire locker room had their eyes on her now which was not helping her heart come back down into her chest. No…no this was NOT good…  
"Y-yes?" She said softly, trying to find something to bring her back down to earth. She couldn't think of a thing.  
"We need to speak with you immediately. Please follow us." The other hissed before moving to escort her. The first one of the pair to talk and also the taller of the two took the lead while his shorter counterpart pushed Morgan between them. She had no choice but to follow and tried her best to avoid her colleagues questioning gazes. They took her to a room she had never seen or knew they had, one without windows and dull, peeling paint. She even swore that the stupid overhead light was flickering a little. The short troop behind her pushed her into a chair by a table while the taller troop sat on the opposite side. He opened some files they had laid out while Mr. Shorty took guard at the door. Morgan glanced at him, her blood starting to run cold before she looked back to her assumed interrogator. He was laying out some paper, mostly innocent documents like her work history, application to Gentek and even her college transcripts. He then started to pull out some other things but his questions distracted her.

"Are you familiar or affiliated with a Cadence Owen?" He breathed as he shut the folder and held a few things in his hand.  
"Um yes…she's a friend of mine. We used to work together as well until she was promoted a few months back." She answered as she tried to see what he was holding onto.  
"Are you aware that she has been in contact with a potentially hazardous and even deadly biological agent?" He continued as Morgan raised an eye.  
"I wouldn't be surprised…we were at a genetic engineering company. That sort of thing actually becomes rather common." She laughed weakly. She shut up pretty fast because even with that mask he looked…un-amused.  
"Are you aware that she claims she came into contact with this agent through you?" That caught her attention and made her heart drop. Cadence had sold her out…?  
"I…what?"  
"We scanned her at 1300 hours yesterday after a security breach. She claims she was clear of the agent before contact with you…." He was starting to lay out the papers he had in his hand, it becoming clear that it was pictures he had. They were of her, shots from a security camera of her and Cadence outside the loading bay planning her escape. There were more images of her running from the grounds and some of her vanishing outside the gates. Maybe coming into work had been the wrong idea.  
"Why exactly did you resign before your scheduled time yesterday around 1300 hours Ms. Miller?" He hissed, voice becoming hard. "I have enough evidence on this table to put you away for a couple of decades. Do you realize how many protocols you violated with this little stunt!? Why exactly did you LIE to TWO officers and involve another employee in unauthorized departure!? Why was it that Ms. Owens was so quick to point her finger at you Ms. Miller!?" He just kept throwing questions at her without any break between his sentences and with each one his voice rose into a harder and louder pitch. Even if she had wanted to answer, to try and explain she didn't have a chance. When he finally stopped his barrage of questions she opened her mouth to answer but just managed a squeak. Admittedly, that was partially due to the 'woosh' of the door suddenly flying open behind her. The man guarding it jumped and swung around to aim the gun at whoever had just given him an equally as sudden heart attack.

"Mr. Donavan…" Morgan breathed when he appeared, the Blackwatch troop dropping his gun and saluting the man. Morgan found that to be rather odd but forget it once she saw how angry her usually placid boss looked.  
"Ms. Miller will have to be excused for the time being Captain...we have some VERY SERIOUS terms that must be discussed immediately." Well shit…from the frying pan and into the fire she went.  
"Sir, what I am conducting here is just as important if not mor-"  
"DON'T TALK BACK TO ME YOU HIGH SCHOOL DROP OUT!" Donavan snapped at the man. "I could have you fired in a millisecond if I wanted to! You and all you other drones have been complicating matters since you arrived! ALL over someone who we all _know _is dead!"  
"SIR!" That made the trooper jump from his chair but he soon grew silent.  
"I will return Ms. Miller to you once I have finished my discussion with her. Now…Morgan you need to follow me." He hissed as he motioned for her to come. She did so, preferring her pissed off boss over the two men with the guns. Silently she followed, shocked at how fast the man could move and struggling at times to keep up. Into the elevators and up to his office they rose, passing several more troopers and employees who eyed Morgan with suspicion. When they got to his office he told her to shut the door, which she did before facing a whole new round of tension and worry. What else could they possibly have on her?

"Sit." He barked as he dropped into his desk chair and watched her. She did so but couldn't help but feel like a teenager being sent to the principal's office. He took a moment, pulling out some papers just like the trooper had though far fewer. "Ms. Miller…you have been working for us for over 4 years now correct?" He began slowly. Morgan nodded, shocked to realize that anniversary had passed months ago. It had been something she had planned on celebrating and now…it seemed like such a petty thing. She had bigger problems now…  
"Then….please explain something to me. Why, after four years of extremely loyal and, may I say, successful work have you suddenly decided to break into our facilities? In addition in order to conduct unauthorized research, steal said research and FURTHERMORE destroy one of the most expensive pieces of machinery this company owns!?" She was left sitting in shock, mind devoid of any intelligent come backs or explanations.

They knew.  
They had found out…

"I…I…" She sounded like an idiot. "I'm sorry sir…I don't know what to say…" She watched as he spread out some papers, most just computer print outs showing someone accessing the system and typing in command codes to run the RX-120. The coding ended rather suddenly, mostly with angry error codes and random computer script before it bugged out and stopped. In addition to that the man had several photos, not from Gentek's camera but rather camera's on other buildings around them from the night of the break in. What frightened her more than anything though was the fact that Alex was even in a few of them…  
"Ms. Miller, we would like to know who this man is…" He hissed then, leaning back in his chair as he folded his arms across his chest.  
"I….I don't know." She rushed, trying to come up with something good. If it came down to being fired or killed…she would chose being fired.  
"Ms. Miller…"  
"Seriously! I don't know…he…he was just some guy; He jumped me a few months back-" Not a total lie there. "And he knew I worked here. He demanded that I get him a couple grand or he would kill my parents. He's some sort of sociopath or drug addict or something. I thought I could go to the cops but he watches the house and I was too afraid to do anything. He finally told me I could get him the money by stealing chips from the company. I thought the RX would be the best bet but I screwed up the machine trying to get to it…." She could tell by Donavan's face he wasn't buying it one bit. "I thought maybe if I turned it on I could type in some code to get the thing to open up but…I just broke it. I panicked after that and just grabbed some of the other chips from the machines in the room…I thought they would be worth a quick buck."  
"Ms. Miller….I don't tolerate liars…" His voice frightened her more than the troopers had. He was so angry… even threatening in a way. "You are permanently suspended from Gentek. Your employment will be terminated pending a hearing that you will be informed of within the week." He started to clean up the papers and put them back into a folder. "Two Blackwatch troopers will escort you home once you clean out your locker. Leave your ID card and ALL company property inside and lock it." He finished before rising and pointing to the door. "If you are caught on company property again before the hearing you will be held in prison until your hearing. Do I MAKE myself CLEAR?" He snapped as Morgan slowly stood and nodded.  
"Yes sir."  
"Good. Now get out." He hissed as he watched her hurry out. She was going to have to tread lightly from here on out. After all she still had a few things to do…

Morgan rushed through the building, avoiding guards and anyone she knew as she made her way back to her old work station. She had set up a program shortly before she ran away the day before. It was a background program that ran on very little processing power so it was easy to hide. The only downside was that it was slower than grass growing and had to run overnight. Now that she was fired she had to retrieve whatever data that it had collected before Donavan got a hold of it. It was a quick trip: flash drive in, drag and drop the program data, flash drive out. She unplugged the computer after that, grabbed some pencils, pens and papers from her desk to keep from looking too out of place then bolted for her locker room. There she changed, throwing her lab coat inside but ignoring Donavan's order to leave her ID card. She tucked that away in her bra, not wanting the troopers who were to escort her home snatching it. She hid the flash drive too before picking out some innocent enough personal items from her locker and shutting it. It was just as she finished that the troopers arrived and luckily they weren't the same ones from that morning. The looked through the objects she had taken out of her locker, cleared those then moved to walk her out. The silence between the three was unsettling as they walked but after a while she could tell that one of the troopers seemed to be...holding something back. It was like he wanted to talk about something but couldn't. One kept looking to the other and when he did the other shook his head as if to shut him up. When they reached the lobby the one eager to talk finally broke down and started to speak up.  
"So….did you hear?"  
"Evans, don't." His friend hissed but he insisted.  
"I can't help it man, I just...it's freaking me out. There are PICTURES." Evans hissed as they started out the door. Morgan didn't ask if they knew were her house was, the two seeming to know already as they turned to head down the right street; creepy.  
"Evans!"  
"No! I'm sorry I'm talking about it. It's not like she has any idea." He snorted as Morgan made a face.  
"I am sports illiterate." She hummed softly which made them both look back. Another period of silence followed before the Evans guy broke again.  
"It's Zeus…he's really still alive…"  
"EVANS!" His friend snapped again. They were not authorized to talk about this! "I think you believe in the rumors too much. Did you even see the pictures?"  
"Well no but…Freewell did and he said there is no doubt. All the higher ups are freaking out too." He hissed softly as they continued along. Zeus?  
"Freewell talks shit all the time, you should know that by now. Didn't he tell you once that you were getting promoted?"  
"Yeah he did that little fucker. But this is different man! Freewell was there…right at the end. He _saw_ him before the bomb. Sure it was for just a second but when I saw him? Right after he saw that picture? The man was as white as a ghost. I've never seen anyone shaken up that badly."  
"He's full of shit man…he likes to talk big. You know he didn't get to NYZ until a month after the nuc."  
They had to be talking about Alex….and they had some sort of code! Alex had a code name! The hell was going on!?  
"That's what I'm SAYING man!" Evan insisted then. "Freewell knew this WHOLE time he was still alive and kicking! But no one ever believed him."  
"Shit. It's all shit Evans I'm telling you." His friend sighed before they stopped. It didn't feel like a long conversation but somehow they had arrived back at Morgan's place.

"We're here." Evans friend hissed as he turned back to Morgan and gave her a little push with the muzzle of his gun.  
"Do you _mind_?!" Morgan snapped as she moved to her door. "Don't touch me with that thing." She reasoned as the men watched her.  
"Watch your tone bitch! Get in the house!" Evans snapped then as he raised the gun and gestured for her to get going. She glared but hurried on in after unlocking the door. Once inside she locked it back and slide down to sit on the floor. She took a moment, wanting to reel in all this new information before she realized...they were still out there. She turned her head and pressed her ear to the door in hopes of hearing them better.  
"Fucking bitch." Evans was snorting. "You know she's in the picture with him…"  
"Evans…"  
"No man I mean it! That's what Freewell said."  
"Well I guess that makes more sense now why we have to stay here and guard the god damn place. They must think he's snooping around here for some reason."  
"Must be….hey man if she makes a break for it I call the shot. Bitch got away from me yesterday and I'm not about to screw up again." He chuckled as he messed with the gun some.  
"You're twisted man. You know we weren't given permission to kill her, just...slow her down."  
"Hey, sounds like the same definition to me." Evan chuckled deeply.

Morgan leaned forward away from the door, unable to stomach listening to them anymore. They…they could kill her. They _**wanted**_ to kill her! If she attempted to leave they would try and it was okay and one of them was even looking _forward to it_. She started to shake, realizing all at once her life could very well be over. She had lost her job, there were men with guns at her door wanting to shoot her, Alex was out of the bag and she still had go to a _trial _due to her job. She shut her eyes, a hand going over her mouth as she suddenly started to cry and even sob a little. The hell was wrong with her!? She knew she was scared but she had no reason to break down like this! Yet, at the same time she couldn't help it. For the first time in her life she was truly, completely terrified for her continued living. She didn't know what to do or where to go. It just felt over. She slammed her eyes shut as the crying got worse and soon just hide her head in her hands. What was she going to do?

She was shaken from the grave she was burying herself in when someone touched her. Their hands had moved to rest on her arms which made it was clear to her that whoever it was, was close. She half screamed and jerked away, ending up on her side as she looked towards whoever it was.  
"Lord women." It was Alex, just Alex...how had she forgotten about him? "The hell is wrong with you? What happened?" He asked as he rocked back and sat on the floor but kept an eye on her. However before she could speak he held up a hand, the man hearing the pair outside her door.  
"The hell was that?"  
"Who knows, probably just the TV. Chill out Evans…"  
Morgan looked petrified and as Alex looked back to her he narrowed his eyes in worry and moved to get her up on her feet.  
"Come'on…" He whispered as he helped her up and hurried her into the living room. He cranked the TV volume up, figuring that was a wise idea even if it did make talking hard. "Morgan the hell is going on? Is…are Blackwatch troopers out there?" She gave a stiff nod and made a point to actually stay rather close to him, a detail that was not lost to Alex. "Morgan…what the hell happened today?" He demanded softly as they settled into the couch a little. With a sniff and a sigh she started to explain how her day had gone after she had left that morning. First with the scanners, which she felt was the only luck she had found that day, followed by the troopers confronting her about Cadence and finally to Donavan. She made sure to point out to him that he was in the photos as well which upset him the most but that made sense. To finish things up she ended with the troops and what she had heard them saying about her.  
"That explains why you were crying." He snorted as he kept his head I his hand. It was a lot for even Alex to hear and process.  
"I think it excuses me." She laughed weakly as she wiped her eyes again then pulled her legs up to her chest. "Alex...the men…they were talking about you. I know they were….but they were calling you Zeus…why?" She asked then, catching him a bit off guard.  
"Morgan now is _really_ not the time..."  
"I saw it before too…when I was running the tests on the RX… It was some classified screen with a lot of blocked information but one of the tabs was labeled Zeus…" She continued to push before he looked up and gave her a small glare.  
"Aren't you dealing with enough right now?" He pointed out as she looked to the floor.  
"I just….why do they know about you? Just…have you dealt with them before? I know you worked for Gentek before and were in NYZ. I just want to know…" She wasn't digging for a life history just something to quell that part of her brain. 

"Yes…yes I've dealt with them before. I'm Zeus." He sighed then, not in the mood to fight with her. His brain was reeling from everything she had just told him. Morgan looked to him then and smiled a little, happy he had been honest with her about this. She felt herself relax a little with the news, enough so that she ended up leaning into him a little on the couch. Alex looked at her though, raising an eye and trying to shift away a little.  
"What are you doing…?" He muttered, voice hinted with something that sounded like unease. She realized this was not his sort of thing but…ironically enough he was what she felt was safe at this point.  
"Look, I realize this isn't your sort of thing Alex but…I haven't exactly at the easiest day. There are two sociopaths outside my house talking about shooting me and being excited about it. I realize you may have had to deal with people shooting at you before but I haven't." She explained with a bit of a tone. "So if you would just..."  
"Alright, alright…" It didn't make sense to him why this would make her feel better but he didn't really feel like arguing with her. So, for the following few hours the pair stayed on the couch and watched TV, Morgan resting into Alex's side while he put his arm on the back of the couch. Nothing was said, nothing was done as the hours ticked away. An odd, slightly unsettled peace fell over the house as the sun slowly set. It was hard to describe any other way. Morgan felt safe, comfortable even but at the same time she felt like the walls around her would be shattered by bullets at any second. After a time she looked to her phone, frowning at all the texts from Cadence and ignoring them all so she could check the time. It was so late…  
"You should eat something."  
The silent hours had made Alex's voice almost sound like a strange echo but it still drew her eyes.  
"I'm not exactly hungry…" She admitted as she shifted away from him and rubbed her arms some. She felt so shaky and sick. "Thirsty maybe…but…" She put her head into a hand and took a breath.  
"What's wrong…?"  
"I feel sick." She admitted as she shut her eyes. Was it because she hadn't eaten? Maybe she should try…  
"Morgan I think you're in shock…" Alex sighed as he sat up some and looked at her. He should have paid attention to this type of thing. "You need to eat and drink a little something." She watched as he stood and glanced towards the kitchen.  
"Alright, well…" Morgan rose as well but when she did she almost fell down. She swayed some then dropped to sit on the couch just as Alex moved towards her.  
"I think you better stay on the couch…" He reasoned as he glanced back to the kitchen. "I'll make something…" That got Morgan to snort as she stretched out on the couch.  
"I'll manage." Alex hissed as he headed in and started to look around. What could he fix that wouldn't end up being toxic….

Some time later Alex managed to actually cook something without completely destroying the dish…well…at least not all of it. He had ended up reheating some things Morgan had stashed from previous dinners but the breadsticks hadn't made it through their microwave adventure. That aside Morgan was surprised and pleased when he brought her a plate.  
"Thank you." She hummed as she sat up slowly and dove right in. She was hoping that eating would make her little tremors and nausea go away. Alex just gave a nod in response and sat at the end of the couch as he too ate. Like the rest of the evening, dinner was silent but once bellies were full the frightening edge of the evening faded. Alex took the dishes into the kitchen and cleaned up before he returned and tried to reclaim 'his' couch. Morgan needed to go to her own room and sleep and he…well…he needed to go and check out Gentek at some point. At least that had been his initial plan. When he returned to the couch Morgan ended up against his side again which he hadn't been counting on. He grew a little stiff and looked at her, waiting for her to move or explain but she didn't.  
"Morgan…?"  
"What? You're not comfortable with my touching you unless I'm naked?" She snorted as she glanced up to him. She noticed he was smirking some and his eyes were glowing a little. Slowly he looked towards her as a hand slipped to touch her back.  
"Well…" She groaned and started to move away from him. "What!? Now you're moving away?" He snorted as he watched her sit up. His hand slipped some then, trailing down her back some. "You know that some people say that sex helps you relax…" He hummed as Morgan fought a shiver. Her back was a tad bit sensitive.

"Oh yeah? Where did you hear that?"  
"I say it all the time." He hummed back, tugging on the ends of her hair lightly. That made her shiver too. Damn it.  
"Alex I really don't think this is going to help my stress level. I should probably just go to bed…" She pointed out. She started to get up to do just that but before she could Alex had found a way to distract her. His hand had slipped up into her hair but rather than pull it or do anything mean he was actually giving her head a massage. She paused, not able to deny it felt pretty nice. She dropped back onto the couch, sitting and turning her back to him as she leaned into his hand. Well if she would get a bit a massage out of this…

Alex let his hand stay on her scalp, massaging there lightly as he watched Morgan slowly become puddy. After a time he used his other hand to help her into his lap, sitting her there with her back to him as he continued. When he felt like he could get away with it he shifted his hand from her hair, moving then both down her back to her waist then back up to her shoulders. He worked the muscles there and kept an eye on her, watching as she smiled and let her head roll forward. This she agreed with, _this_ helped with stress. However like most things Alex started, there was a reason and a goal to his motives. This was most definitely the case with their moment. A few minutes of shoulder work and he lunged, his hands raking down her sides before slipping around her waist and down her legs. She shuddered at that and moaned when his hands turned into the insides of her thighs. She fell back against his chest as Alex smirked. He turned his head some to give her shoulder some attention as his teeth bit lightly. Slowly the bites on her shoulders moved up to her neck until his face was buried in her hair. She shifted back on his lap more, struggling through the movement since he had started nibbling on her ear. Damn him. Damn him in getting his way ALL the TIME. She reached around as he continued messing with her ear, her hands tangling in his hair and pulling as his hands stroked. It didn't wasn't long after that Alex shifted them again, this time so he could pin Morgan on the couch for awhile. He kept her close, teeth and lips on her neck while his hands ran along her sides and legs. Morgan wasn't much better, her hands tearing at his jackets some while taking any chance she had to grind against him. However once that started up he snapped and was on his feet, Morgan in his arms.

"Someone's in a hurry." She snorted, figuring she'd let this one go…hell he had gotten her in the mood anyways. Plus she didn't think she could tell him no if she wanted to right now.  
"Don't even." He snorted as he carried her up the stairs to her room. There would be no teasing, no playing around this time.


	13. Ultimatium

**Hey guys! Yes! Another chapter so soon! I went on a writing spree when school let out and I actually have another full one completed after this. I will ask everyone to excuse any tiny grammar or other errors that might show up. I did have my proofreader go through it but they didn't mark specifics and just mentioned certain pages that needed looking over (which I did fix). I wanted to give you guys another chapter relatively fast though so...forgive me? XD **

**I'm thinking about maybe trying to upload 1 chapter a week for a month as a challenge to myself but I dunno. **

**I hope you guys all continue to enjoy it, the arc is really starting to pick up. Big changes are in store for our 'heros' coming D**

**~ Primal**

* * *

It was almost like the morning before only this time Morgan wasn't roused by her alarm. This time it was her cell phone; ringing; loudly at 4 am. At first she was just going to ignore it but as soon as that HORRIBLE ring tone started, the one that the caller had BEGGED Morgan to make hers… She groaned, rolling over in bed to grab it and answer it.  
"Hello?" She growled, voice a little raspy.  
"Oh my god FINALLY! Morgan! What the hell is going on!? You got FIRED!?" It was Cadence…at 4 in the god damn morning.  
"Cadence…. please stop yelling. Do you have any idea what time it is?" She groaned as she put a hand to her head and leaned against it.  
"Um…early? I dunno; I'm about to head into work. You were FIRED!?" She was being so loud it got a groan out of Alex. Alex! He was still in bed with her! Morgan spun her head to look towards where he was, surprised he was still there. Then again it was early. "What happened!? Are you okay?"  
"Cadence please…" She begged then as she turned onto her side to talk. "It's too early for this…I'll explain later."  
"Morgan I was _worried_ about you! You didn't answer my texts! Are you okay?" Before she could even answer or even snap at her Alex rolled over and grabbed her phone. She gasped and tried to get it back but he was already speaking.

"She is perfectly fine and being tended to I assure you. Now if you would please avoid calling again until a more humane hour we would both really appreciate it. Have a nice day Cadence." He smirked as he hit the 'end call' button then looked to Morgan. She could only see his face in the light of her phone and he looked rather pleased with himself.  
"Alex! You've been avoiding her for months! You just-"  
"If the fucking army knows I'm in town I can't see any harm in your little work buddy knowing." He snorted as the light went out and plunged them back into the dark. He reached over her to put it back on the bedside table, slowly redrawing his arm so that his hand could brush the sheets off her some more. "Though I'd hate to make myself a liar…I did promise her I'd tend to you…."

He couldn't stop!

"Alex I don't think you promised her anything." Morgan snorted but she did smile at his hand that was stroking. Soon it stopped in order to yank her back towards his chest as he leaned over her some.  
"Well I wouldn't want to raise your hopes and let you down…" He reasoned then as Morgan snorted.  
"I don't think you have to worry about that…" She reasoned before yelping as he pushed her onto her back and started to slip over her. "Good god Alex…you act like you haven't gotten any in yea-" She stopped as she looked up at his very un-amused face. "Sorry." She laughed weakly as he rolled his eyes.  
"I'm going to ignore that..."

The second time Morgan woke up it was at a normal time. The sun shone in through the shutters covering her windows and found their way to her face and more specifically her eyes. She whined, turning over to hid but running into someone when she did. She opened her eyes, shocked again to see Alex still in bed with her but something about it made her smile some. He groaned as she shifted away, causing the bed to shake and wake him more.  
"Morning."  
"No." His response made her laugh before she moved to get her phone. Now that she was fully awake she could operate the damn thing. No missed calls, no texts from Cadence. God only knew what she was thinking right now. Shaking her head she checked the weather before putting her phone down and moving back over by him.  
"Do you think they're gone..?"

"Who?" He sighed as he shifted some to look at her.  
"The troopers…they talked about staying all night…" She sighed as she glanced to her window. She wanted to check and see. They were on the second floor but if you looked just right you could see the front of the house. Slowly she shifted away from him and moved so she could get up and check.  
"Wait." Alex reached after her, touching her back lightly with his hand. "Don't. I'll look." He reasoned as he moved to get up. She was starting to become a little less surprised at his spontaneous acts of selflessness but it didn't mean she was taking them for granted. She settled back in bed as he pulled on his boxers and moved to look out the window she had been eyeing. He was careful about it, angling himself as he peeked out through the blinds. They were still out there alright, what was worse was that there were four now instead of two. Alex sighed, watching as two of in the front of the house were replaced with new troopers that had come from an alley by the house. They were incognito about it though and gave simple nods before switching places. Two more were in a car across the street. They were up to something and clearly did not want Morgan leaving the house. That also meant he wouldn't be strolling out the back door anytime soon.

"Well?" Morgan insisted after a moment.  
"They're still out there." Alex assured as he peeked back to her. "But there are six now…they must really not want you leaving." He noted as he continued to watch. Morgan just slumped down in the sheets as worry took over again. Six…there were six now. "You know…you never told me what exactly you said to the trooper yesterday." He noted as he turned back and came towards the bed.  
"What do you mean?"  
"I mean you didn't tell me what you told them. You mentioned they started questioning you about me but you weren't exactly specific on what you told them." He explained before sitting back on the bed.  
"I played it off like you were some thug. That you threatened to kill my parents if I didn't get you money. So I thought that stealing the computer chips would be my best bet." She replied easily.  
"Not too bad…did he buy it? Donavan?"  
"No…I don't think so." She sighed. "He called me a liar and got really pissed. He saw the pictures of us working together, remember." She pointed out as he laid back out on her bed beside her.  
"Damn….I can't believe we didn't think about the other stores having cameras…"  
"Even if we had I doubt we would have pulled it off Alex…. there had to have been half a dozen stores around there, all with their own cameras."  
"We could have just broken those." He pointed out. It was silly to think about the 'could haves' at this point. The break in was done and over with and there was no changing the outcome now.  
"My turn for a question." Morgan hummed as she turned towards him a little more. Alex looked to her and raised an eye as he waited. "The tuning fork machines-" He snorted at her name for them and earned a glare. "-were messing up yesterday. They were completely shut down and the troopers were using handheld ones, you didn't have anything to do with that did you?" She finished as she watched him smirk a little.  
"Maybe…" He hummed. That was as good as a yes. Shaking her head she settled back in bed again, stroking the sheets around her some as another silence found them. It wasn't uncomfortable in any way but something about it felt dead.  
"What are we supposed to do now?" She asked after a moment, her tone rather empty and hollow compared to before. Alex looked at her, not having heard that tone come from her before. She sounded so lost…

"Well…how close do you think you are? To a cure." He reasoned as he turned to face her a little more.  
"Not as close as either of us would hope to be I'm afraid. I left some things running on the computer but I'm worried." She had almost forgotten about those programs…plus the ones she had stolen and brought home.  
"Why worried?" Alex asked as he raised an eye.  
"As great as my computer is…it's nothing like the mainframe at Gentek." She pointed out, Alex nodding in agreement. He remembered the system Gentek had working for it. "I'm worried I won't have the power or the space to run everything I need. I was running a private program at work that I moved onto a flash drive but I doubt my little desktop will be able to run it; even if I did buy more ram and a better processor. Plus I'm bound to run into problems again. More thank likely I'll need to run some tests on you again and then what? I stole my security card from work but it's probably deactivated by now. " She frowned as she stared ahead at the wall.  
"You stole from work?" Alex chuckled then. Morgan turned to him and nodded.  
"Yes…why do you act so surprised?" She asked, his smirk getting her to smile some.  
"Good girl. I'm teaching you well." He grinned as he folded his arms behind his head and rested back. She rolled her eyes at that. "I think I'm going to grab a shower." She hummed as he gave a nod. She started to stand but paused at the edge of her bed. This was probably a bad idea and a horrible question to ask but somewhere deep down it was bothering her.

"Um…Alex?" She began, peeking over her shoulder at him.  
"Yeah?" He looked to her, an eye raised at her odd tone.  
"Why is it that…um…I…why won't you kiss me?" She felt beyond stupid with this, having turned away when she asked and hidden some. They were just screwing around. Nothing more. Yet this was something she had noticed from the start and it was bothering her. He'd kiss her everywhere but her lips...why?  
"Morgan…I'm pretty sure I have." He snorted, moving over some to touch her neck lightly. It was sporting red spots once again on top of the others from the day before.  
"That's not what I mean." She reasoned, as he slowly withdrew her hand. He didn't say anything, sighing then as he rested back and stared at the ceiling.  
"Maybe you should just take your shower…" This wasn't the time. She had too many things going on to have him launch into an explanation. Feeling a bit off she gave a stiff nod and rose, moving across the room and to the bathroom. She never should have asked…

Despite the awkward moment made by Morgan the rest of the day turned out fairly well. Stuck in the house Morgan focused on work and sadly discovered her computer concerns had been well felt. Her computer crashed when she tried to run the program from Gentek and even after some online shopping she didn't think she could buy a computer good enough to run it. Alex even took a crack at it, working rather diligently until he had to walk away to avoid smashing the tower. Some quiet time and reasonable discussion allowed them to conclude that they could do nothing more with her home resources and that, once again, Gentek would have to provide the tools. Morgan thought it was a stupid plan, not sure what could be done by breaking in a second time when she was already in a shit load of trouble. Surprising however, Alex provided a plan.

They had to leave the city.

The idea scared Morgan to pieces. She didn't want to abandon all she had worked for and built for herself. But as she thought about it more and more… she realized that she had no choice; that she was either with Alex or she was dead. It wasn't even that she was worried he would kill her anymore, but more of the fact that if she went along with everything he wanted and succeeded in a cure she still wouldn't have a life to return to thanks to him. As time passed in the house Alex started to realize that same fact and it caused the mood of the house to drop twice as fast.  
"So remind me again why we're breaking in?" She asked as she sat back on the couch with him after grabbing some lemonade from the kitchen.  
"Gentek keeps records of all the companies it buys its tech from as well as the facilities that house them."  
"You mean the smaller operations that aren't publicly affiliated?" She asked, knowing about those. They were small operations running small, special projects and not like the big, glamorous buildings she worked in or the one in NYZ.  
"Yes, those." He nodded. "We can look for them in the database, get the addresses and get out. Easy."  
"That's what you said last time." She sighed as she rubbed her temples. "Then what?"  
"We'll be moving around a lot…place to place until you figure this thing out." He reasoned as he gestured to himself.  
"Alex, you do realize I have a finite amount of money right? What do you plan to do when I run out and we can't stay in hotels anymore?" She assumed they would be living in hotels at least.  
"We'll deal with that when we come to it." He replied, which didn't make her feel much better. Her life really was going to be over after all of this. Sighing she bowed her head before resting it into a hand. She was feeling that 'trapped rat' sensation again where her heart began to race and her eyes started to sting. This wasn't unnoticed by Alex and he frowned as he thought about it.

He had been living with Morgan for 6 months now and it was still hard to believe. Over that span of time he had changed and he was starting to realize it. He actually _felt_ again, he felt like he was more of a real person now than he had been when he arrived; he had some of his humanity back. In that moment though he felt horrible and he knew this was all his fault. He had just ruined her life and he had no idea or way to fix it at this point.  
"Morgan I…" He didn't know what to say. He was so confused and scrambled by all the emotions churning up he couldn't find a clear thought. "I….You realize I'm not going to let anyone hurt you right? No one will. It's a promise" He decided those were words that worked. However they didn't get a response from her and he frowned. "You know that right? You're going to be okay…" Why was this so weird!?  
"You're only saying that to calm me down…you're only keeping me safe because I'm an investment. I'm the only person who has any idea what's going on with you and the virus…" She argued as she half glared at him through watery eyes. Again he felt this unsettling pain flare in his stomach. She was really upset this time and it was 100% his fault.  
"I…." He couldn't argue with her. It was true. He had spent months searching the Gentek frame for someone he thought had the right expertise to fix this thing. On top of that he had looked for someone he thought he could scare enough that they wouldn't tell and in the end it had come down to Morgan. Yet now, he couldn't help but feel bad for coming to her and involving her in everything. Before anymore words could be said her doorbell went off which made Morgan jump a good 4 inches off the couch. They both stared towards the door, waiting to see if anything else was going to happen. The bell went off again and Morgan rose, as did Alex. He grabbed her arm before she got too far though, shushing her as he walked with her to the door. He moved behind it, nodding for her to proceed.  
"Who is it?" She called out first before peeking through the view hole.  
"It's me. Please let me in Morgan?" Cadence called as she waited by the door. Morgan hesitated, looking to Alex who actually nodded for her to do so. Was he not going to hide? She assumed not as he walked back to the living room. Blackwatch already knew he was around so he clearly didn't care if anyone else did either. With a sigh Morgan opened the door and faced her so called 'friend'.

Cadence snatched her into a hug straight away, Morgan allowing her but not really returning it.  
"I have been SO. Worried." She gasped as she moved into the house. Morgan locked the door behind her before following the rambling women towards her living room. "They told me you were sacked and I was freaking out! They said you were the one who broke in a few days ago? Morgan tell me it's not tru-" Her words cut short when she finally laid eyes on Alex. He looked rather comfortable where he was, legs kicked up and arms along the back of the couch. She seemed unsettled by his presence, looking to Morgan for reassurance. "I um….didn't know you had company…" she said softly as Morgan moved into the room.  
"I figured you did after that 4 am wake up call." She muttered as she moved to lean against the couch by Alex.  
"Sssoorrryyy about that." She grimaced as she remained in the entrance to the living room. "I wasn't really thinking…"  
"Clearly not." Morgan scowled as she continued to give Cadence dirty looks.  
"Morgan what the hell is your problem?" She huffed as she crossed her arms. "I've been worried all day! I even gave up my lunch break to come and see you…"  
"Umm maybe it's the fact that you're partially to blame for the hell I went through yesterday Cadence." She hissed. Alex turned some then, keeping an eye on both women for the time being.  
"I…. what?" She didn't understand, face in shock.  
"Yeah Cay…lovely little Blackwatch trooper threw me in the room and started demanding I tell him why YOU told THEM I contaminated you with some biological agent. Thanks for throwing me under the bus." Cadence was at a loss or words, the girl opening her mouth to explain but no words coming out.  
"I….I just panicked…you know how frightening they are…" She reasoned as her eyes glanced to Alex. She was dying to know if this was the guy she had heard on the phone but she and Morgan were sort of fighting so her questions would have to wait.  
"You don't think I was freaking out too? They SHOT at me…" She reasoned as she looked to the floor. She really didn't want to keep talking about this.  
"Well…I'm sorry." Cadence offered as she looked at them hopefully. "But…Morgan, about the break in rumors..."

"I don't want to talk about that." She hissed as she moved around to sit on the couch. Thinking about it now she was shocked that Cadence had even made it inside her house…weren't the troopers watching it? She seemed to realize something was amiss just as Alex had as she sat, catching his eye that seemed to hold he same suspicion.  
"Okay well…. where do you think the contagion came from? I know you weren't workin-"  
"Cadence…..seriously. Shut up. I don't want to talk about work; I don't want to think about what has happened okay? I've had a really difficult few hours and it's not going to get better playing 20 questions with you." Alex was a little impressed with how harsh she was being. If he remembered correctly, Cadence was her one friend she had and she was chewing her out pretty bad here. Then again…if their suspicions were correct…  
"Okay, okay…. sorry." she sighed as she moved to sit in a chair by the couch. Silence followed for a time before the air seemed to cool and Cadence couldn't hold her questions back anymore.

"Soo….I don't think I got an introduction…" She hummed as she eyed Alex. Morgan looked to him, not sure if she should say something or if he would. She got her answer easy enough.  
"Mark. Mark Sanders." He introduced. Morgan almost made a face at his fake name but was distracted when he draped his arm around her shoulders. The hell was he doing…  
"Well it's nice to meet you Mark! I take it you and Morgan are uh…" She wagged an eye and Morgan hid her face in a hand.  
"Lord…Cay…"  
"What!? I knew you had a guy living here. I can't believe you didn't introduce us before." She hummed as she gave Alex a once over. "How are things?" She asked, still remembering the night Morgan had called her…_hurt_.  
"I'd say we're going well. Like Morgan said the last few hours have been hard but nothing we can't work through and figure out." He reasoned before hugging her into his side some. This…this was freaking Morgan out. He was acting so…. _sweet_ and coupley.  
"Awww…See Morgan? You shouldn't worry!" Cadence grinned as Morgan rushed to play along.  
"Well I guess…I just hope I can find a way to drop these charges. I think Mr. Donavan has lost it." She snorted as she snuggled into Alex's side. She felt him flinch away initially but remembering that they were playing a little game he had no choice but to snuggle back close. She mentally smirked at this but realized this was going to become a game of 'oneing each other up'. Shortly after she snuggled in he let his arm drop from her shoulders to wrap around her back in order to reach around and hold her hand; a smooth move.

"Probably. The guy is getting on up there isn't he?" Cadence laughed before returning the topic to Alex.  
"So where do you work Mark?" She hummed as Morgan groaned.  
"Cadence really…" How long was her lunch break?  
"It's fine sweetie." Alex grinned at her though something about his smile seemed painful. Now he was just over doing it on purpose. "I work down at the First National bank in town." He answered easily. "Nothing fancy, nothing like Morgan." He hummed as he looked between Cadence and Morgan. He was going to make her sick with all this sweet talk.  
"Ahh I see…well it sounds like you two are getting along really well huh?" Cadence hummed as Alex nodded and Morgan just rested into Alex and ignored everyone.  
"We are." Alex assured before clearing his throat some. "We actually had some lunch plans. A little something to help cheer Morgan up…"  
"OH! Oh I'm totally interrupting aren't I?" Cadence gasped then as she jumped back up to her feet.  
"A little." Alex laughed as he watched. Morgan was shifting to get up as well, figuring she could walk Cadence out at least.  
"It was nice meeting you Mark!" Cadence called as Morgan paused to say something to him.  
"I'll be right back honey, I'm just going to walk her out." She cooed, Cadence already to the doorway of the living room. Alex glared at her, flicking her off then and mouthing a very definite: Fuck you. Morgan just snickered and scampered out of the room to make sure Cadence left. She composed herself by the time she reached the door and Cadence turned to face her. She was giggling though which caused Morgan to raise an eye.  
"What?"  
"Mark and Morgan…you guys are M&M's…" She giggled as Morgan rolled her eyes.  
"Alright little girl are you sure you can find your way home without your mommy?" Morgan sighed as she moved to open the door.  
"What? I think it's cute." She reasoned before trying to get a few more words in. Morgan insisted that she leave though, shutting her up but making a false promise to call her later. Once the she was gone and out of the house she took a sigh of relief and headed back to face Alex. There would be some name calling and teasing to be had for a time but more importantly? It was time to prepare for one, last break in.

It felt like she was reliving a bad dream.  
It had been hard enough getting out of her house with, now NINE, troopers outside but what had been even more difficult was explaining to Eric why he was now the proud father of all of Morgan's pet fish. After a few rounds of dodging questions he agreed and Morgan told him she would leave him a key outside her door in her mailbox. Truth was, Morgan and Alex had no intention of ever coming back. Morgan made sure to pack a bag and moved all her computer files onto a combination of CDs and flash drives before they smashed the thing. All her personal effects were put into boxes with her parents address on them so they would hopefully make it through whatever happened next. With everything at home taken care of Morgan was now faced with the jump and run up the Gentek building.  
"Morgan come on…we need to go." Alex sighed as he looked up the building, a little worried since…well…Donavan's window wasn't open anymore. He already had a plan on what to do with that, he just hoped Morgan wouldn't notice.  
"I know I just…." She exhaled loudly and continued to pace. She was just so scared…she didn't like the sensation of falling much less having to piggy back with Alex when he jumped. She was NOT meant for this.  
"Just jump on and close your eyes. It will be over soon enough." He sighed as he held out a hand to try and get her to come along. Morgan snorted though and stopped her pacing to look at him.

"That's what you said last night too." She hummed, unable to help herself with that one. Alex groaned, grabbing her hand and moved towards the edge of the building. He pulled her close, giving Morgan no choice but to hop onto his back before locking her arms and legs around him like a vice. He considered doing something mean…like pretending he couldn't glide anymore but when he realized she was shaking he tossed the idea out. They just needed to get this over with. With a swift leap he was up and in the air, headed right for the ominous tower that they still had to climb. He scaled it without a problem, Morgan not even realizing Donavan's window was shut until she felt his arm phase under her knee. She peeked down, watching as he kicked off the building and shattered the window with his whip power. Immediately after he threw it forward again, lodging it in the wall directly ahead of them and using this to reel them into the office. It wasn't as graceful a landing as last time; Morgan and Alex separating as they tumbled into the office.

An alarm was blaring before Morgan even stopped rolling but that was short lived thanks to Alex. Another wave of his arm and the blade at the end had sliced the alarm box in half, permanently shutting it off. With that unexpected development Morgan scrambled to her feet and rushed to her boss's desk. At the most they had 5 minutes before the place would be swarming with cops, or more likely, Blackwatch troopers. As Morgan tackled the computer Alex was already working away at barricading the door so they had a little insurance should they run out of time. Morgan scrambled to access the network, thrilled and relieved to find that her log in information hadn't been removed from the system yet. Her fingers flew over the keys, typing furiously in order to find the facility archives she and Alex needed. She felt like she was zooming and making great time but that was before she noticed Alex bracing the door (and the bookshelf he had slammed down in front of it) as men shouted from the other side.

"HURRY!" He roared. In an attempt to keep the doors shut he phased his arm into a new power. They were huge, almost rock like fists that he threw against the door and braced. All of this caught Morgans attention and distracted her from the computer. The power oddly reminded her of the Hulk…  
Her thoughts were cut short when the remaining windows to her left shattered in a rain of gun fire. She dropped out of Donavan's chair and hit the floor screaming. Alex shouted to her and bolted to her side, sliding under the desk as Blackwatch swarmed the room like wasps protecting the hive. Morgan was in a ball under the desk, trying to find a safe place from all the gun fire. She ripped the flash drive from the computer, not even sure she had gotten any of the information she needed. Seconds later Alex was there, grabbing her up in his arms before throwing himself out the window as they made their escape. For a brief moment Morgan dared to look down, heart pounding as she saw a million lights and ants rushing up towards the building. Spot lights hit them and she turned her head into his chest and listened to the sounds of helicopters approaching at rapid speed. She swallowed her screams as Alex flipped them, his back to earth as they plummeted down.

Alex took the shots from the men below, hissing softly as the bullets tore into his back and sung deep. Before they got too low he dashed, throwing himself and Morgan towards some lower, small buildings. He slid on his back onto the roof of one before flipping onto his feet and hopping down into the alley. Morgan was in a ball in his arms, he didn't even think it was possible for a person to be so small but she had somehow managed it. Slowly he lowered her back on her feet but it didn't take long for shouts to echo down the alley towards them.

"Morgan…you have to go. Now. Get back to your house and grab everything you can. I'll meet you back there." He hissed as he started to shift once more. This time it started at his feet, thick plates of armor starting to grow up his legs. Morgan shook her head, shaking from head to toe as her hands feebly held onto the sleeve of his jacket. "You HAVE to. I can handle this. Just get back and I'll see you there shortly. I made a promise remember?" He reminded as he tried to pry her hands off. Hot metal shot past there heads then as the troopers rounded the corner and fired. Morgan yelped again and finally let go, starting to take some steps back as Alex fully shifted into his armored form. Morgan stumbled just around the corner but paused to look back. His hands changed then into the long, menacing claws she had only seen once before as he turned to face the men. They hesitated as they watched then opened fire again once they had reloaded. Alex countered by slamming his hand into the earth, sending up a cluster of spikes that tore through the men like tissue. Morgan covered her mouth, turning away then as she tried to calm her stomach. It failed miserably and she vomited as the listened to the sounds of gun fire and screams fade a little. As the minutes passed she could only assume Alex was headed back to Gentek. Not wanting his efforts to be in vain she pushed herself forward and rushed to join a crowd of frightened civilians who were running from the increasing sounds of war coming from just a few blocks away. She flagged a cab, tumbling into it as she tried to get a grip on everything that was happening.

"Where to miss?" The driver asked as he turned to look at her. "Whoa…you don't look so good lady…what's going on out there anyways?" He asked as he looked at all the other freaked out and frightened people.  
"Something….something at the Gentek building…I just…I just saw some people…" She could barely speak.  
"Hey now…no worries. Hows about I just drive some eh? If you see somewhere you want to go just holler up." He smiled as he reached back to pat her arm. She nodded weakly and gave a smile as the man let up the brake and started away from the fighting. As they did so Morgan couldn't help but catch a glimpse of something in his side mirror…a smoking helicopter spiraling down into the street….

The taxi driver took Morgan all around the city, often passing places more than once as they drove round and round. Morgan went into shock again then came back out when he paused at a red light and turned on the radio. There was an emergency announcement on, telling everyone to stay clear of Gentek because there had been a terrorist attack. Listening to the announcer caused Morgan to look at the clock in the taxi's dash and realized she had been driving around for almost an hour.  
"I think I need to get home…if there has been an attack.." She said then as the man looked back.  
"Of course." He nodded as Morgan told him her address and they headed back. He sped like a mad man, Morgan thanking him for that as she got out of the car and gave him a rather generous tip. He wished her a good night before heading away and left Morgan facing her house.  
She stood on the street for a time and did nothing but look at it. None of the lights were on, there was no one on the street and the only other noise was the sound of distant alarms from emergency vehicles and military sirens. After taking a deep breath she took her keys from her pocket and moved towards the house. She just had to be slow, careful and quiet. Alex was probably waiting inside and he would handle this, he always did.

She moved to her front patio, unlocked the door and stepped inside. The house was too quiet for her liking, even the alarms drowned out once the door was shut. She put her keys back in her pocket then moved to turn on a lamp just inside the hall. However it didn't turn on. Even after checking the bulb the lamp refused to shine which meant one thing; the power was out. Morgan wondered if Gentek had called in to have the grid shut down or somehow in all the chaos Alex had done it himself.  
"Alex?" She called softly, shocked by the frailty of her own voice. She sounded broken…or sick with meningitis. There was no reply nor any movement from the shadows where she would have thought him to be lurking so she moved down the hallway just a little further. The hairs on her arms and neck were standing straight up as she moved, something just not right about any of this. She was so on edge that a simple little 'splash' from something trickling down the hallway made her jump. After her heart slowed a fraction she removed her phone from her pocket and used it as a light. She realized then she didn't hear her fish tank filter humming and, feeling an absurd burst of courage, headed down the hall. She stopped short when something crunched under her foot; glass? Turning her phone she aimed the light around the corner to discover the source.

Her fish tank had been shattered, the glass scattered everywhere and her poor, defenseless goldfish gasping as they laid on the floor.  
"You poor angels!" She half sobbed as she rushed to their aid. It was stupid how upset the sight made her feel, tears starting to bead up as she looked around desperately for water to put them in. They didn't deserve this; they were just fish for Christ's sake! "Oh….oh I'll fix this. You poor things." She sniffed as she jumped back up and headed for the kitchen. She hit a wall on her way which was surprising since she was in the dark...no not a wall! A man in armor with glowing eyes…  
Morgan screamed as the trooper grabbed her in his arms, holding her back to his chest as she was swarmed by 3, no 4 more men. They struggled to stop her thrashing, this made easier when the one holding her tossed her to the floor. Her hands were zip tied and they attempted to do the same to her legs but she just continued to thrash them. The last thing Morgan remembered was the room going completely pitch black as a bag was thrown over her head, claustrophobia kicking and then a blisteringly painful hit to the head.


End file.
